I was recently honoured to receive an early copy of Tim Challies’ book, Seasons of Sorrow. As I do with any book, the first thing I read was the back cover and the endorsements and as soon as I did, the tears began to flow. After reading it cover to cover, I agree with his wife, Aileen: “Truly this is the best thing he’s ever written. Sweet tribute to our son [Nick], written during the most difficult season of our lives. For everyone who has suffered loss, this book gives comfort and hope” [1] 

Nick and I share a birthday. I remember that many years ago when we both attended Grace Fellowship Church. Birthdays were acknowledged during prayer on a Wednesday evening and I was surprised and delighted to find that we had one in common. Nick stood out for his quiet and thoughtful kindness, qualities which he inherited from his parents. His sudden passing at twenty-one devastated his family and community. We have all mourned the loss of a life cut short.

Grief is an intensely personal experience, and you won’t know how you’ll navigate it until it happens to you. Always a  gifted writer, Tim’s way of making sense of his grief was to pick up his pen and use words to guide him through the layers of questions in his mind, all while still seeking God in the midst of the storm.

For anyone dealing with the loss of a loved one, Seasons of Sorrow is a written expression of how Tim and his family navigated the loss of Nick through a year-long written journey. It’s raw, honest, heart-wrenching and purposeful, as it consistently reminds us that we have an eternal home with Jesus. Throughout the book, Tim shares a longing for heaven and invites us to ask if we ourselves share this longing and if we are living with an “eternity mindset.”  We are reminded of our challenge to be ready and stand firm in the Word of God as we face the uncertainty of what tomorrow brings and the importance of preparing for the next unknown in our lives. Knowing Jesus personally, as Tim so eloquently shares, draws us in to want to know Christ even more, share the lavish love Christ has for us and live today knowing we are but a vapour (James 4:14). 

Not only do I highly recommend this book, but I encourage you to purchase multiple copies to share with those who are also dealing with grief or are wrestling with profound questions about the goodness of God when they’re hurting. Tim’s book points us to the only One who can redeem what’s been lost, the One who can heal the brokenhearted and the only One who can save us from our sins and make us whole again. Through his personal seasons of sorrow, Tim masterfully, thoughtfully, tenderly and theologically walks us through his most intense personal trial, expressly sharing the depth of his heartache even as he tenderly lifts our eyes toward hope. It’s a personal letter to all of us, urging us to seek hope in a broken world, just as the Bible is a love letter written to call us to the One who is our ultimate hope and salvation. 

Some of us are not as intimately connected with the depth of sorrow that Tim shares in his book, but at some point, we will all have to greet death at our door. For that reason alone, we all should have this book on our shelves, right next to our Bibles. Thank you, Tim, for allowing us to grieve with you through your seasons of sorrow. 

I would like to give Tim the final word with his powerful testimony of God’s grace in his life: 

“It is not my wish that Nick would live so short a life. It is not my wish that I now have to go on without him. The loss is painful beyond any I’ve ever known and is causing me to cry out from the deepest parts of my being. But I cannot and will not mourn as one who has no hope, who has no confidence, who has no assurance, for I have great hope, great confidence, great assurance, because Nick was ready. Even though he was young, he was ready to die. He had settled the state of his soul. He had prepared for the day of his death. 

And so I know in my heart of hearts that I have said goodbye for now, that I have said farewell for a while, that Nick has not been sent away but merely sent on ahead to that place where death is no more; where mourning, pain, and sorrow are gone; where God has already wiped away every tear; and where my son is now waiting safely and patiently for his father to join him.”[2] 

 Links 

Seasons of Sorrow Launch Event 

https://www.challies.com/resources/seasons-of-sorrow-the-release-event/ 

https://www.challies.com/seasons-of-sorrow/ 

Introduction to Tim’s book 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gValacRfJ_c 

Guilt, Grace, Gratitude Podcast Interview 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kes9gqA4MI 

https://anchor.fm/gggpodcast/episodes/Tim-Challies–Seasons-of-Sorrow- 

‘Seasons of Sorrow’: A Conversation with Tim Challies, Alistair Begg, and Bob Lepine 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83TSZ-9luC0 

In the Valley (Bless the Lord)- Single CityAlight and Sandra McCracken 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM1nMD_Mjos 

 

[1]        “Log in or Sign up to View.” 2022. Facebook. September 13. https://www.facebook.com/public/Aileen-Aileen. 

  

[2]        Challies, Tim. 2022. Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, p.6