Kiss the Wave: Embracing God in Your Trials (Furman)

“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”

What does it mean to “kiss the wave?” These words, attributed to nineteenth-century British preacher Charles Spurgeon, speak to the Christian’s only hope for perseverance in suffering. What if we can learn to experience the nearness of God in the midst of suffering? What if God intends to work through our trials rather than simply take them away?

After living for more than a decade with a debilitating nerve condition in both arms, Dave Furman shows us that God, in his grace, always designs trials for our good—not minimizing the pain, but infusing significance into our suffering. Furman demonstrates that, even when tossed to and fro by stormy waves, God is near . . . and that makes all the difference in the world.

Read Chapter 1

Author

Dave Furman (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as the senior pastor of Redeemer Church of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which he planted in 2010. Dave and his wife, Gloria, have four children.

Endorsements

“If you want a book that promises you a life of instant healing and happy endings, give this book a miss. You’ll be better off with the many books that specialize in empty promises. But if you want a book that is realistic about years of chronic pain and debilitating depression, yet drives you toward the comforts of Christ and his gospel, read this book. Dave Furman does not provide us with an abstract dissertation; rather, out of his own experience he shows us what it means to kiss the wave that throws you onto the Rock of Ages.”
D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Cofounder, The Gospel Coalition

“Dave so gently reminds us that God doesn’t expect us to call the hardest parts of life ‘good,’ but instead desires for us to hold fast to his immeasurable, never-ending goodness in the midst of our suffering.”
Jennie Allen, author, Nothing to Prove; Founder, IF:Gathering

“Depression has been a close companion for most of my life, though I did not recognize it for what it was until I planted Renovation Church. At times it has been debilitating. At times I have wanted to run away from everything that, in more reasonable seasons, I love. Only the grace of God and the abiding presence of his Spirit have gotten me through. I only wish over these many years a work as powerful as this one would have been available as an encouragement, reminder, and rebuke on more volatile days. I am thankful to Dave Furman for pouring out his heart and story into these pages, but most of all I am thankful for his pointing us to the living God.”
Lèonce B. Crump Jr., Founder, Renovation Church, Atlanta, Georgia; author, Renovate: Changing Who You Are by Loving Where You Are