Waiting Well With Jesus, by Lynda Wake 

A devotional journal borne out of grief; would be a help to others struck not only by bereavement, but any of life’s disasters

Waiting Well With Jesus - strength for the journey, through heartbreak to hope
By Lynda Wake
Authentic 
ISBN  978-1-78893-352-0
Reviewed by Martin M'Caw

 
It is always an inevitable tragedy when an aged and well-loved parent dies, but when your daughter dies from brain cancer just short of her 16th birthday it’s an absolute disaster. That was Lynda Wake's experience. She opened her life to Jesus when she was seven, but being a Christian is no guarantee of a life free from distress, tragedy and grief. 

I googled the author and book title and found on Equipping the church a very telling interview with Lynda in which she explains how she came to write the book 10 years after Bethany had died. Grief really hit and nearly paralysed her because she might have to wait decades before being re-united with Bethany. Her big question was how she was supposed to live out the rest of her life in such emotional agony?
 
God’s answer was she would find her answer in the Bible. So she started searching the Scriptures and discovered through the presence of Jesus ‘how to live and love again with a wider perspective and deeper emotional well than ever before. One of the consequences of that experience was to write Waiting Well with Jesus as an encouragement for people going through similar experiences feeling that God had abandoned them.

The format is nothing like a text book. There are 52 ‘doing words’ in alphabetical order:  one for each week of the year with and some 'journal space' with blank pages at the back for the reader to write their reflections. The book doesn’t have to be read week by week, nor is it confined to only finding grief from bereavement. In the introduction she writes:  ‘We are all waiting for something’, such as ‘Restoration after brokenness, Work after redundancy, Wholeness after betrayal, Acceptance after abandonment, Renewal after ruin, Tenderness after abuse’. 
 
By offering 52 verbs for 52 weeks the author is doing much more than a mathematical time-related match. Bringing ultimate grief and loss to God creates a bouquet of actions as we wait on God to lead us on through our faith in Jesus. The Blakes questioned if there was a way to recovery from dreadful bereavement?  Her husband stated in times of bereavement we can feel rejected and doubt God’s goodness and love so we must dig deep to find his love. The 52 Journal sections asks how the reader can allow God’s love to flow through to bring kindness, gentleness and healing.
 
The 52 sections are listed alphabetically but they don’t have to be read in that order.  The reader can choose what seems to be the prime ones for meeting their pain and needs. It’s a book that offers serious spiritual physiotherapy for the times when we are struck not only by bereavement, but any of life’s disasters.
 

The Revd Dr Martin M’Caw is a retired Baptist minister and Wing Chaplain No2 Welsh Wing RAF Cadets (also retired)