Not by Chance: Learning to Trust a Sovereign God [Paperback]

Layton Talbert (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: BJU Press (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579246397
• ISBN-13: 978-1579246396
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Modern Books on the Providence of God, June 29, 2002

By 

Andrew D. Naselli (Moore, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not by Chance: Learning to Trust a Sovereign God (Paperback)

Layton Talbert's book is one of the best modern books on the providence of God. He skillfully, reverently, and humbly matches theology with reality. He divides the 322-page book into thirteen chapters that introduce, define, describe, and illustrate God's providence. Talbert explains, "I am not interested in propagating or defending any particular system of theology. The burden of this study is to investigate the testimony of Scripture, challenging all of us as God's people to conform our thinking and to adjust our attitudes to the plain utterances of God Himself" (pp. x-xi).

The back cover reads, "The providence of God is the bedrock belief that enables us to confidently encounter life's tragedies, triumphs, and perplexities." I agree wholeheartedly, and the author's focus on God's word enabled me to do just that. In December 1998, my family was shocked to learn that my youngest brother Michael, who was three years old at the time, had cancer--Stage IV Neuroblastoma. The doctors warned us that Michael only had a ten percent chance to live. Over the next three and a half years, Michael endured chemotherapy, radiation, a bone marrow transplant, two major surgeries, monoclonal antibody treatments, and countless tests. After a tenacious battle with cancer, Michael went home to be with the Lord in heaven on March 30, 2002. Now he is safe in the arms of Jesus and will never experience pain or tears again. Talbert's book was a timely arrival for my family. After BJU Press released it just before Thanksgiving in 2001, I devoured it cover to cover over two full days. God also used the book to minister greatly to my grieving Mom. It was one of the means that taught my family to trust a sovereign God through the most difficult, heart-wrenching trial we have ever experienced.

Of all the branches of systematic theology, God's providence is arguably the most challenging to articulate. One contemporary theologian noted, "Probably the most difficult intellectual challenge to the Christian faith is the problem of how there can be evil in the world" (Millard Erickson, Christian Theology [2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998], 436). Talbert uniquely presents substantive orthodox theology in a warmly devotional manner that meets human needs with God's words. He writes based on an unswerving commitment to the grammatical-historical meaning of the text and makes direct applications that are unarguable because they are so solidly based on Scripture.

One particular portion of Talbert's book that God used to align my impatience with his word was his discussion of God's governing providence in the life of Joseph. He writes, "God weaves delays into the pattern of life for my ultimate good. Think of delays from His perspective. We are so frantically time bound. God is not. . . . The point is, time is a worry only to us. It never has been to God. Learn to rest in Him, walk with Him, obey Him, and cultivate contentment wherever His Hand has put you now. He has a strategy, a purpose, a method--and all the power and persuasive tools necessary to do whatever he pleases" (p. 78).

This is the type of book that one can read repeatedly with deeper benefit each time. God becomes so much bigger in our sight when we meditate on his preserving and governing providence: "God continuously preserves and maintains the existence of every part of His creation, from the smallest to the greatest, according to His sovereign pleasure. God graciously guides and governs all events, including the free acts of men and their external circumstances, and directs all things to their appointed ends for His glory" (p. 34).

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Feast for the Soul, June 4, 2002

By 

Andrew Weaver (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not by Chance: Learning to Trust a Sovereign God (Paperback)

Dr. Layton Talbert has given us a treasure. Not By Chance feeds the soul with a deep and penetrating look at how God relates to this universe -- and to each of us. This book should be read slowly and thoughtfully. Every chapter is stocked with delicious, soul-nourishing morsels. Dr. Talbert shows great respect for the text of Holy Scripture. His scholarship is solid, not arrogant. (It's refreshing to find an author who doesn't force anti-supernatural presuppositions down our throats.) I picture the author sitting at his desk with an open Bible. I see him prayerfully reflecting on hundreds of biblical texts -- trying to understand what God intended rather than reading his own ideas into the text. As a result, an aroma of honesty, humility, and delight fills Dr. Talbert's work. Not By Chance is theology at its best -- Scriptural, practical, and life-changing.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for a deeper understanding of God? - give it a try!, December 6, 2005

By 

Karsten Gosse (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not by Chance: Learning to Trust a Sovereign God (Paperback)

The subject is not easy to address, nor to explain to someone with little thological background. But Dr. Talbert makes the subject understandable for lay people as well as those who are into theology.
I like the humble and balanced approach of this book. As someone who is into counseling, preaching and theology I highly recomend the book. It has been a comfort to me, helped me to see some hard times in a diffrent light and perspective and I am convinced it will do the same to everyone who still believes that God exists and whatever his theological back ground is because Talbert makes the Bible the most important positiv argument. Will there be no more questions after reading the book? No. But a deeper knowledge of the souvereign God will help you to find more answers to bothering questions.