In this book I hope to help people understand that God appreciates how hard it is to be human. He knows that it takes more than a little faith to believe and that life is complicated. Within these pages you'll find stories and dialogues that cut to the core issues of life and show that the Holy Spirit has plenty to say about rejection, suffering, direction, and many other hard things.
I've found that it's true, that God, as unpredictable as He is, is mostly warm and understanding, but sometimes He can be a bit unnerving when it comes to hard topics, yet in all things, He is just and good. My prayer is that these conversations might serve to encourage you in your doubts and provide healing wisdom when things don't make sense.
The book consists of three kinds of writing; stories, conversations (called colloquies), and indexes. Often in religious writing we read about power encounters with God, e.g. a crisis occurs, and some mighty miracle of God intercedes, the foe is vanquished, and everyone goes home happy. The stories in Small Talks with God could be considered weakness stories, i.e. stories where God's comforting presence empowers a weakened person to press-on with the strength he provides to endure in a crisis and become stronger and more courageous along the way.
The colloquies (conversations) are candid dialogue between God and a person. Sometimes the dialogue is in a Q&A format, other times the dialogue is a one-way lament or fervent exclamation of praise. Other times Jesus, gently sits down and says I want to explain something to you. The tone of the conversation is warm, even when the issues talked about are intense. Jesus is calm in the storms of life, and because of the composure He brings to difficult situations, we are empowered to see our issues with increasing clarity.
The third element in the book are thematic and topical indexes that we included to help readers quickly find resources they are interested in. There is a list of colloquy themes and an index of topics with reference numbers to specific colloquies related to the topic.
The book is organized into chapters that correspond to seven contemporary themes: Identity, Relationships, Work, Change, Suffering, Responsibility, and Vision. Each begins with a short story that frames that theme in a modern context. I hope that as you experience Jesus in these simple human conversations, you might be inclined to look toward the Lord with a twinkle in your eye, anticipating a newfound camaraderie and intimacy with Him.
