When I Lay My Isaac Down

I think I can safely say that we all have “things” in our lives that haven’t gone exactly as we expected or planned. Things like depression, cancer, divorce, death, rebellion, illness. Life took a horrific turn for Carol Kent also, the author of When I Lay My Isaac Down: Unshakable Faith in Unthinkable Circumstances.

The subtitle to her book is a very accurate description of why this book was so encouraging to me – even though I haven’t been through exactly what the author had been through. “Unshakable faith in Unthinkable Circumstances” is described through this book as Carol details the situation that she and her family went through.

“When the phone call came at 12:35 a.m., a bleary-eyed Kent listened as her husband passed on the unbelievable news that their son, a United States Naval Academy graduate and Navy lieutenant, had shot and killed his wife’s ex-husband. During those first few hours after receiving the harrowing news, major decisions, both legal and financial, needed to be made quickly. So began the Kents’ two-and-a-half-year journey that led to the trial, conviction and sentencing of their son for first-degree murder. Kent (Tame Your Fears; Becoming a Woman of Influence; Secret Longings of the Heart), whose position as President of Speak Up Speaker Services made her the family’s primary breadwinner, had no option but to continue working and speaking throughout this ordeal. She wondered if people would even want her as a speaker if they knew she was the mother of a murderer. Using a biblical story from Genesis 22 where God asked Abraham to literally “lay down his Isaac” as a sacrifice and then intervened at the last moment, Kent prayed for a similar miraculous outcome for her son. She shares her story with a transparency and vulnerability that readers will find both disarming and bracing. The Kent family’s ongoing fight against despair and hopelessness is fittingly paired with their resolute faith in God’s ability to transform even the most crushing circumstances into something good.” taken from amazon.

What I love most about this encouraging book on faith is that Mrs. Kent talks about how to live a life of faith despite circumstances that we would not have asked for. She describes a faith and trust in the Lord despite her life being turned upside down. I think most of us need to hear that encouragement from time to time! I know I do! Life may not have turned out exactly as I had planned or hoped, but God had a plan all along! His plan for me has not been thwarted!! I cannot mess up His plan…and He loves me enough to continue working His plan despite the circumstances around me. This book was a huge encouragement to me, and I pray it will be for you, too!