Review: You Can Trust A God With Scars by Jared Ayers

 Review: You Can Trust A God With Scars by Jared Ayers

This isn’t a book Dale would host, and Bettie wouldn’t quote it over biscuits. But for me, turning 67 in the hush of October, it felt like the right companion.

You Can Trust A God With Scars is not a sermon—it’s a conversation. Ayers writes for the spiritually adrift, the skeptical, the wounded. He doesn’t try to fix you. He invites you to sit with the questions. The book blends theology, literature, music, and art into a kind of guided tour through the Christian story, but it’s not about certainty. It’s about presence. A God who doesn’t avoid pain, but bears it. A God with scars.

There’s no altar call here. Just a quiet insistence that mystery and doubt belong in the room. Ayers doesn’t flinch from the hypocrisy or harm done in the name of faith. He names it, then gently points toward a deeper story—a story where suffering isn’t proof of abandonment, but evidence of divine solidarity.

It’s not a book I’ll ritualize on the blog. But it’s one I’m glad I read. It reminded me that even in a world fractured by grief and noise, there’s still space for sacred silence. And sometimes, the most trustworthy guide is the one who’s been wounded too.