The Struggle Is Real (Paperback)

Unice, ministry director of Hope Church in Richmond, Va., takes the popular hashtag #thestruggleisreal as the jumping-off point for this forceful and reassuring discussion of the incapacitating nature of angst. Instead of getting caught up in little moments of struggle, Unice writes, readers would be better served considering how small moments of discomfort reflect larger concerns. Unice argues that overcoming the feeling of constant struggle only comes by bridging “the disconnect between what I believe and how I act, how I understand the promises of God and my actual experience with God . . . between who I want to be and who I actually am.” Sharing her personal stories—undergoing a disastrous perm as a teenager, moving to California from the Midwest as an adult—she writes that looking into oneself to discover hard reality, understanding the narratives one creates around one’s history, and then rewriting negative personal stories through the lens of God’s love can be a path to solace. Interspersed with Unice’s story are scriptural readings that focus on the narrative power of Biblical tales and lessons. With energetic style, Unice explores the transformative power of storytelling as a salve for angst in this instructive book for Christian readers.