As of Monday of this week, there still is no resolution in the Nancy Guthrie case. On February 1st, Nancy Guthrie, an 84‑year‑old mother of three, including NBC News journalist and Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing from her home in Tucson. The case continues to baffle authorities and cause inestimable pain for the Guthrie family and their friends.
The story is fading, as often happens. The Olympics, political grandstanding, war with Iran, and more all compete for our attention. Personally, we get caught up in the “stuff” of our own lives as well.
Shortly after the abduction, Savannah Guthrie’s 2024 book, “Mostly What God Does,” was on sale for $1.99 as a Kindle book. I purchased it, not expecting any deep theological insights, but as a “real-time” look at how Ms. Guthrie’s faith-and-life experiences might have prepared her for the devastating event currently unfolding in public view. She had no clue this was coming; honestly, none of us know what’s next, whether good or evil or mundane.
An aside: If it pleases the Lord, I’m OK with mundane, dull, and a lack of excitement rather than the gut-wrenching experience of the kind being endured by the Guthrie family.
Two things intrigued me about the book. First, how prior life experiences might have prepared the author for the current crisis. Like the rest of us, Savannah Guthrie doesn’t have the answers. No profound insights, though she expresses dislike for the story of Job. Who among us “likes” the story of Job? We envision our name randomly chosen for some sort of catastrophic, cataclysmic episode and we say, “No thanks.”
To summarize, Guthrie declares that it is better to be hopeful in the Lord than to be hopeless without him. And while we’re incapable of understanding evil and its purpose and place in the world, a world (heaven!) is coming when all will make sense and when all will be well. At the end of chapter 25 (What About Job?) she writes these eerily prescient words: “On that day, we won’t have any more questions. We will have understanding, and more importantly, we will have him. We will have life; we will have eternity. We will have our dear ones restored to us. No more weeping, no more agony, no more mourning. Heaven is the world God always intended.” (Guthrie, Savannah. Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere (p. 232). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.)
The second item that captured my interest was the book’s title: “Mostly What God Does.” It’s not drawn directly from Scripture, but from a paraphrase of the Bible, entitled. The Message. Here are the verses the author draws from. First, the NIV translation: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children, and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1,2)
Here’s the extremely loose paraphrase of the same from The Message: “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you.” (Ephesians 5:1,2) (Guthrie, Savannah. Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere (p. 6). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.)
Can you see why I don’t recommend Bible paraphrases? Christ is removed from the excerpt. Powerful words/concepts like “fragrant offering and sacrifice” are eliminated. However, I do like the last line and I’ve been living with it in my head for the past few weeks: “Mostly what God does is love you.”
How I need to know this! How I need to hear this! How I need to share this! Fear, doubt, anxiety, uncertainty, judgment by self and by others all threaten to obscure this precious Gospel truth: “Mostly what God does…is love you.”
I’m not recommending the book. You can certainly read it as one person’s personal faith journey. It isn’t a stellar theological treatise nor is the author accurate in all of her expressions of Christianity. But I heartily recommend that you take to heart (and take this to others!) the sentiment expressed in the title: “Mostly what God does…is love you.”
God keep you in his gracious care,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
(photo from deseret.com)
The story is fading, as often happens. The Olympics, political grandstanding, war with Iran, and more all compete for our attention. Personally, we get caught up in the “stuff” of our own lives as well.
Shortly after the abduction, Savannah Guthrie’s 2024 book, “Mostly What God Does,” was on sale for $1.99 as a Kindle book. I purchased it, not expecting any deep theological insights, but as a “real-time” look at how Ms. Guthrie’s faith-and-life experiences might have prepared her for the devastating event currently unfolding in public view. She had no clue this was coming; honestly, none of us know what’s next, whether good or evil or mundane.
An aside: If it pleases the Lord, I’m OK with mundane, dull, and a lack of excitement rather than the gut-wrenching experience of the kind being endured by the Guthrie family.
Two things intrigued me about the book. First, how prior life experiences might have prepared the author for the current crisis. Like the rest of us, Savannah Guthrie doesn’t have the answers. No profound insights, though she expresses dislike for the story of Job. Who among us “likes” the story of Job? We envision our name randomly chosen for some sort of catastrophic, cataclysmic episode and we say, “No thanks.”
To summarize, Guthrie declares that it is better to be hopeful in the Lord than to be hopeless without him. And while we’re incapable of understanding evil and its purpose and place in the world, a world (heaven!) is coming when all will make sense and when all will be well. At the end of chapter 25 (What About Job?) she writes these eerily prescient words: “On that day, we won’t have any more questions. We will have understanding, and more importantly, we will have him. We will have life; we will have eternity. We will have our dear ones restored to us. No more weeping, no more agony, no more mourning. Heaven is the world God always intended.” (Guthrie, Savannah. Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere (p. 232). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.)
The second item that captured my interest was the book’s title: “Mostly What God Does.” It’s not drawn directly from Scripture, but from a paraphrase of the Bible, entitled. The Message. Here are the verses the author draws from. First, the NIV translation: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children, and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1,2)
Here’s the extremely loose paraphrase of the same from The Message: “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you.” (Ephesians 5:1,2) (Guthrie, Savannah. Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere (p. 6). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.)
Can you see why I don’t recommend Bible paraphrases? Christ is removed from the excerpt. Powerful words/concepts like “fragrant offering and sacrifice” are eliminated. However, I do like the last line and I’ve been living with it in my head for the past few weeks: “Mostly what God does is love you.”
How I need to know this! How I need to hear this! How I need to share this! Fear, doubt, anxiety, uncertainty, judgment by self and by others all threaten to obscure this precious Gospel truth: “Mostly what God does…is love you.”
I’m not recommending the book. You can certainly read it as one person’s personal faith journey. It isn’t a stellar theological treatise nor is the author accurate in all of her expressions of Christianity. But I heartily recommend that you take to heart (and take this to others!) the sentiment expressed in the title: “Mostly what God does…is love you.”
God keep you in his gracious care,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
(photo from deseret.com)
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