Arts Entertainments

Divine by Karen Kingsbury

Divine, inspiring and humbling.

I just finished reading Karen Kingsbury’s Divine (Tyndale Fiction, 2006). It was a fantastic read. A page turner from the start. It follows the lives of two young women, really, and reveals the life of one incredible woman, Mary Madison, through the circumstances of the second.

A modern parallel to Mary Magdalene of Biblical times, Mary Madison is a woman who endured the most brutal and soul-shattering abuse as a child and overcame it all to become one of the most powerful women in America.

Then again, Divine could also be seen as the story of a man’s undying love for a little girl as she held on to him, let him go, broke his heart, and found him again. It is the story of how each and every aspect of a person’s life, yes, even the most brutal and negative, can be lovingly and masterfully woven into a wondrous tapestry of victorious and vibrant life.

The entire novel was one of love and undeniable grace. When I finished, I was humbled by the magnitude and depth of Father’s love. One part that brought this truth home was when Nigel, a pastor at the mission Mary Madison was sent to, demonstrated to Mary the utterly and utterly judgment-free nature of God’s love. He told her to imagine that He was Jesus, and briefly recounted the embarrassing details of her past; then she asked him ‘what would Jesus do’ or something like that. With her shame weighing on her, Mary was sure that Jesus would reject her for being too dirty. But then Nigel, acting like Jesus, opened his arms to her and pulled her into a hug full of love, shame and all. That, she told her, was what Jesus would do.

That analogy broke me. That is the Jesus I love and want to know better. The Jesus who told the woman that she had narrowly escaped being stoned to go and sin no more. That same Jesus who met the Samaritan woman by the well and told her that he knew that she had gone through several husbands and the one she lived with was not even married. No condemnation. That is the message of this book.

It is a story for everyone who has ever suffered abuse, oppression, rejection, loss of self-esteem. . . You say it. For those who have contemplated suicide and others who have done more than contemplate it. It introduces us to a Christ who is loving, compassionate, and would do anything for one of his own.

Karen Kingsbury portrayed the divine nature of God’s love, the man Jesus in a stunning narrative, which left me completely appalled.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1 NLT)

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