Chasing the Lion … Review

At some point, everyone is enslaved to something. For many, it’s dietary, lifestyle, or habits—good and bad. Some, however, are bought and sold in slavery and treated as tools for pleasure and not the valuable human being they are.

From the outside, it is easy to stand in judgment, saying the person should know better. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to the tormented look in the slave’s face … unless, somehow, their life connects with ours; but, until that happens, we won’t know what it took to break the slave, to create a murderer, a prostitute, a porn star.

Image from Goodreads

Recently, I was given an audio book to read, Chasing the Lion. (You can also get the print or kindle editions here.) I’ve admired the author’s journey to the publication of this book, and was thrilled with this gift. I knew the main character Jonathan had faced many trials throughout the story, but I had no idea … not until I was half way through and saw how they broke him, subdued this lion-hearted man into a caged, “animal” whose only mission (according to the crowds) was to bring pleasure to them. Not one of the spectators cared what he was enduring. No one stopped to find out what it was that brought him to his knees. And don't we find ourselves wondering if we're the object of others' malicious and dehumanizing greed--be it gossip, slander, or some other oppression?

It wasn’t until much later when someone noted his strength of will and set out to purchase Jonathan for his own. Every owner had something they wanted from Jonathan. One of them received what he sought. Few knew the tenderness, gentleness in the depths of Jonathan’s soul, and even fewer cultivated trust enough to see him master it.

Many today bear the scars inflicted by abuse. Those that are visible are easily tended and maybe one day they’ll just be old battle wounds. It’s the ones no one can see that often go neglected. Jonathan’s outward scars, to him, were ugly, unworthy of the loving touch of his bride, but they were cinched closed, the bleeding stopped. Like most invisible scars today, Jonathan’s internal wounds would need a miracle, the touch of a master healer who could see exactly what was torn and what was bruised.

In the end (throughout the entire book, actually), Jonathan is a true hero. He’s riddled with the marks of battle and beatings, yet he’s also covered in a love that knows no sin so great that he can’t be forgiven. And this is what I love most about Chasing the Lion: it was when Jonathan moved beyond knowing who he was to realizing Whose he was that he found true freedom and strength; and that is the beauty of all that God has in store for us when we truly surrender our lives to Him.

I can’t wait to read the sequel to Chasing the Lion, and hear how Jonathan’s testimony touches the lives of those around him. I’m excited to read more of Nancy Kimball’s work. It’s not for women only; in fact, listening to the audio is my husband’s favorite nighttime activity as he’s ending his day.

You can find your copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble (NOOK), Audible

(Note: As mentioned, this book was a gift; however, there were no expectations that I provide a review. This is given simply because I enjoyed it that much.)

Weaving words for the heart and soul,

Karlene A. Jacobsen
Freelance Writer
southpawscribbler@gmail.com