In Unreasonable Hope, Chad Veach shares his own family’s personal story of choosing hope and continually looking forward to God’s goodness despite tough circumstances. When he and his wife learned that their precious first-born daughter had lissencephaly (or “smooth brain”) and would not develop mentally beyond about 3 months, they had to find ways to continue to hope in God.
Much of the book reads like a memoir as he shares about the pregnancy, birth, diagnosis and continual care of their daughter Georgie. As he tells his story, he reminds the reader to build a community, to refuse bitterness, to remember what God has already done, to share testimony of God’s goodness, and to pray with faith. He manages to walk that very difficult balance-beam of believing God can do anything and knowing that sometimes He chooses not to heal or perform a miracle.
Veach divides the book up into four parts: The Struggle, The Remedy, The Rest, The Better, and each of these sections includes a final chapter that focuses on the practical. He tells his story and offers encouragement for a few chapters and then he gives you several points on what these lessons might look like when lived out in your own circumstances and your own life. I loved that he did this because it helped the book move beyond just “someone else’s story” and nudged the reader into application and personal growth.
At the end of the book, he reminds us that 1 Corinthians 13 says, “And now abides faith, hope, and love…” We talk a lot about faith. We focus a lot on love. But sometimes we forget the necessity of hope, and yet hope is what helps us rest in God’s love, trust Him for the future, and not give up when things go horribly wrong.
