You are not in control. You never have been. You never will be.
That fact of life is tough for many of us to swallow. “The cultural air I breathe has trained me to think that life should be more carefree, predictable, and in control than it is,” Scott Sauls writes in his new book, Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen: How God Redeems Regret, Hurt, and Fear in the Making of Better Humans (Zondervan).
Scott Sauls is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and the author of six books. Scott writes with a kind of vulnerability that’s not common for authors, let alone for pastors. He tells us that we can find him in the church basement with the marginal characters Jesus seemed to attract. “He wounds us sometimes,” Scott admits, “but always and only to heal us.” Just look around the room sometime when your church sings “It Is Well.” You’ll notice it’s those who suffered most who sing the loudest. They have forsaken their need to control for the peace of faith.
Scott joined me on Gospelbound to share what church members would be surprised to learn about their pastors, why deep faith feels like defeat, and how affliction can preach better than a sermon.
The Gospel Coalition