If you want to trust God more, especially in the dark places of life, the new book by Linda Evans Shepherd is for you. And don’t we all want to trust God more? When You Can’t Find God: How to Ignite the Power of His Presence (Revell, 2011) is her newest release and it offers both practical and spiritual principles coupled with her stories of how God has worked in her life and in the lives of others.

Linda has learned to trust God in many hard places of life. Over twenty years ago, she and her daughter, an infant at the time, were in an automobile crash that severely disabled her little girl. Linda tells other riveting stories that made my faith grow stronger by knowing a loving God who uses everything for good.

One of her most endearing stories to encourage the reader to find real joy by experiencing God’s love, is of Jim, her son, when he was a toddler. After shopping in the mall, she realized how tired Jim was. She writes, “That’s when Jimmy suddenly flopped to the white-tiled floor. ‘I’m tired,’ he said, grabbing my snow boot in an arm lock. ‘Could you drag me for a while?’

Of course, she picked him up and carried him and relates how this represents a trusting relationship with God. She concludes, “We get so focused on our prayer requests that we forget he longs to have a deeper relationship with us…Just as I didn’t want to drag my son down a dusty floor and into the parking lot, God doesn’t want to drag us through the muck of this world. He wants to lovingly scoop us into his everlasting arms and carry us through our difficulties.” (pgs 167-168).

When You Can’t Find God is written for every Christian since there are always times when God seems distant. I also would pass this book along to any person who is open to reading about God but hasn’t yet made Jesus their Lord and Savior. It’s a readable, encouraging and inspirational book that makes you feel like God cares and that it is possible to trust Him more.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell as part of their blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”