For All Who Wander: Why Knowing God Is Better than Knowing It All by Robin Dance {A Book Review}

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for consideration. All thoughts are 100% my own. 

“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
 
Her circumstances might not have been as dramatic as the father begging Jesus for a miracle, but Robin felt just as desperate in her faith. Feeling lost in a spiritual desert, this was the most honest prayer she could offer. Can you relate to struggling in your faith but longing to believe?
 
Faith is tidy and neat for some, never unwavering and always so sure. And maybe that’s how you used to feel, but now your once-sure beliefs are less certain, the prescribed faith of your youth no longer enough.
 
Perhaps life isn’t turning out like you thought it would. Heartbreak and challenges stir doubt. Sunday school answers fall short. God seems distant. Inviting you to find hope and healing in your own story within the pages of hers, in For All Who Wander, Robin Dance will help you:
 

• Abandon the guilt and shame attached to your questions or doubts.
• Broaden your understanding of God’s grace and faithfulness.
• Release hostage-holding lies to enable you to embrace your identity, hope, and value in Christ.
• Reframe your view of difficulties and disappointments as you understand their redemptive and transformative value.
• Trust that God is working in your wandering to restore and strengthen your faith.

 
As you walk through Robin’s story with her, you’ll find out for yourself that sometimes wandering is the path that leads you back to God.

 Robin Dance is a writer, speaker, and contributor to the (in)courage community and The Art of Simple. She’s traveled to India as a blogger and child sponsorship advocate for Compassion International, and her writing has been featured in ten book compilations as well as HomeLife and Mature Living magazines. She and her husband, Tad, are enjoying newfound freedom as empty nesters, but they keep their fingers crossed and the back door open for their three adult children. As Southern as sugar-shocked tea, she currently lives in Macon, Georgia, and online at robindance.me.

When I see a book featuring the (in)courage logo, I just know that I am in for a refreshing read. Regardless of the particular writer, I have found that all of the books that I have personally had the chance to read by any (in)courage writer tend to be like sitting down and talking with a friend. They have a way about them that seem to speak to me where I am. So while Robin Dance wasn't a name that I was overly familiar with yet, I still knew I had to add this one to my TBR. And I'm so glad I did.

For All Who Wander is a book that perhaps a lot of us need, but don't want to talk about. It's a book about doubt. That's not a subject we talk all too often about in the Christian community. Instead we believe that if we just have enough faith, it will overcome all doubt. And so many struggle with these feelings alone, thinking they are they only ones or that they are an inferior Christian because they have questions. This book serves as a great reminder that you are not alone and that having questions does not make you a bad Christian, but that God can actually use those questions to create a stronger faith. While you will certainly find encouragement among these pages, it's not what you might think of as a self help book... rather more of a memoir of sorts, with Robin sharing her own struggles with those doubts in her own life. It's not going to give you any easy answers to make the doubts go away, but rather offer hope that you are not lost in your thinking. I feel like many will greatly appreciate that knowing that they are not the only one. Even those strong in their faith however can benefit as well I think, getting a better understanding of some of those struggles that others go through and perhaps finding more compassion for that struggle as well.

If you really want to dive in deeper and reflect on your own journey, you can also purchase the additional journey guide. This touches base on all the topics within the book, but provides questions to consider, additional Bible reading and space to write down your own thoughts as well. You can read the book on it's own and still get a lot out of it, but this is a great way to really put your own thoughts into it as well.

Overall, this is a good read that many can benefit from. If you are struggling in your faith, this is certainly one to consider.