Walking From East to West by Ravi Zacharias

If you've been around me for the past year or so, you would know that I've recently become quite obsessed with Apologetics.  A part of me wants to blame my husband for this since he was interested in them first, but it is probably more of my inclination toward logic and factual knowledge more than anything.

In November 2013, Hal and I, along with a few other couples from our small group, traveled the short distance down I-83 to Johns Hopkins to hear Ravi Zacharias speak. He and his ministry group (RZIM) were invited by the Veritas Forum to speak on "The Question of Suffering and the Goodness of God." Because of this event, I've immersed myself into read more books written by various apologetic writers.

The latest book I've read is Ravi Zacharias' Walking from East to West, an autobiography detailing his life growing up in India and his journey coming to know Christ after his attempted suicide. I enjoyed the book because despite the difficult relationship with his father, he is always gracious. He never blames his father for the physical or emotional abuse he suffered. Ravi also knew that God had never deserted him, even in his darkest times.

A few of the more memorable quotes:

"Apologetics is not just giving answers to questions - it is questioning people's answers, and even questioning their questions. When you question someone's question, you compel him or her to open up about his or her own assumptions. Out assumptions must be examined."

"I thank the Lord that, even though things were so wrong in my life here, I finally was brought to the realization of what all those struggles were about. There are some wonderful things from your painful past, things with a beauty you may not have realized at the time."

“Often we are not aware of how close we are to that which we need but we think we do not have. In His grace, God has placed some hidden gold somewhere in all of us that meets our need at a desperate moment.” 

"God has an appointment with each of us, and it is critical that every man and woman know this. He will stop our steps when it is not our time, and He will lead us when it is. This is a reassuring truth to know for every believer, and a necessary trust for anyone who ministers in areas of great risk."

I feel like I have so much more to say about this book, but I'm struggling to write it all down. I just find it amazing how God can take a teenager, lying in a hospital bed after trying to kill himself, and create a man, willing and eager to spread the Gospel to all of the world. God knows what He is doing in each and every one of our lives, even though we might not see while we're in our struggles.