I started going back to the gym. Thanks, David.

Of course, the purpose of David’s Goliath is not to send the reader running for the gym to get pumped. David, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006 at the age of 47, belongs to a special breed of driven people who do not accept defeat and will choose serious injury to self rather than appear weak, whatever “weak” means. And he does. Choosing to fight MS through his former bodybuilding practices tears him up, quite literally. But the decision also brings him healing, mentally and spiritually, while providing a body willing to fight his debilitating disease. However, for all the personal gain and recognition through challenges and competitions, David continues to remind his reader, as he reminds himself, that it is God upon whom he relies for strength and direction. In fact, he is challenged to keep at the forefront the purpose of his goal—and writing of his journey—that being, to give God the glory and witness to others. And he does.

We don’t always agree with the processes and directions chosen by every disciple of Christ. In fact, David’s wife, having married him in the midst of and supporting him through the struggles of MS, tells the reader that she, a nurse, thinks David is not making the best decisions for his physical health…but that they are the best decisions for him. David is not looking for approval; he is looking to bring his reader on a journey—a Mt. Everest expedition, if you will—through his struggles by recounting the good and the bad. It is his hope that others will be encouraged and strengthened themselves to cling to God, again or for the first time. And I am.

And the reader may hit the gym afterward.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from ACU Press/Leafwood Publishers as part of their ACU Press Bookclub Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”