The Faithful One {Book Review}

The Faithful One is a modern re-telling of the story of Job. Seth Jacobs is a renowned chef who owns a chain of upscale restaurants called The Perfect Place. He is so successful that there happens to be The Perfect Place restaurants in every single state in the country. He has a beautiful wife, three successful children who are skilled in various areas. Life is good.

 

But this all changes one fateful day when he gets stuck in traffic on the way to a dinner honoring a would-be presidential candidate at one of his restaurants. Seth is thrown into a downward spiral of catastrophic events that leaves his whole picture-perfect world is shambles.

 

As he questions God about his recent lack of luck, Seth's three friends (an agnostic lawyer, a doctor and a rabbi) attempt to shed light on their theories as to why God is punishing him. Seth searches his heart and cannot see truth in his friends' theories. Instead, it takes the gentle, but strong voice of a chance meeting with a stranger that truly opens Seth's heart to take a good listen to what God is saying.

 

I snagged this book because 1) it was free and 2) the storyline was intriguing. As I began to read the book and follow along with Seth on his worst-day-in-the-history-of-worst-days day, I rolled my eyes. It sounded trite and almost comical. But when I thought about it further, I soon realized that this is how bad news is dealt to us. It is one blow after another, after another, after another until we wonder if we're KO. We're reaching for the ropes, eyes swollen shut, blood dripping onto the ring wondering how much more we can take. There are times when we just wish our opponent would take us out and we could call it quits.

 

This is how Seth Jacobs felt at his lowest of lows. And this is why I fully sympathized with him during his quest to find answers to seemingly lost questions.

 

If you are familiar with Job in the Bible, then you can probably guess how Seth's journey ends, but Michele Chynoweth puts just enough of a modern spin that you can still be pleasantly surprised by the end. Or if you're like me, you can struggle with the decisions he makes and wonder, if faced with the same set of circumstances, would you make the same choices?

 

Until next time...

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