Big Relief, The: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World

FORTHCOMING TITLE, ETA JUNE 2025

We could all use a little--or a lot--of relief from the pressures of life. And there is no bigger relief than the grace of God.

Think of grace as one-way love. A gift with no strings attached. Favor when you least expect or deserve it. Knowing that you don't have to do anything to earn God's approval.

In The Big Relief, popular author David Zahl spotlights grace as the most important, urgent, and radical contribution Christianity has to offer the world. Zahl helps readers understand the beauty and depth of grace, outlining how it provides relief from the guilt, status anxiety, and accelerating demand that characterize so much of modern life. Drawing on the witness of Scripture and a panoply of contemporary examples, he unpacks the theology of grace in fresh and exciting terms, exploring its many fruits--such as freedom, play, surrender, humility, rest, surprise, and joy--in the process.

Zahl invites us to embrace Christianity as a refuge rather than as a project, a beacon of hope instead of a vehicle of shame, and a harbor of refreshment in a worn-out world. Ultimately, he welcomes everyone to receive the gift of relief we so desperately need.

176 pages.

View excerpt here.

Contents
Introduction
1. Grace: The Relief from Deserving
2. Forgiveness: The Relief from Regret
3. Favor: The Relief from Rejection
4. Surrender: The Relief from Control
5. Atonement: The Relief from Guilt
6. Imputation: The Relief from Status Anxiety
7. Rest: The Relief from Keeping Up
8. Play: The Relief from Productivity
9. Rescue: The Relief from Captivity (and Death)
Conclusion: Love and Mercy

"The central hope (and scandal, and paradox, and challenge) of Christian faith, brought down brilliantly to ground level for all of us weary souls."

Francis Spufford, author of Unapologetic and Light Perpetual

"The Big Relief is more than a good read; it's a breath of fresh air and a burden lifted all at the same time. With eyes to see the theological in the everyday and a deep pastoral sensibility, Zahl calls us to lay down the heavy loads of performance and anxiety and reminds us--once again--that all is grace."

Hannah Anderson, author of Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit