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You Can Trust a God with Scars: Faith (and Doubt) for the Searching Soul
How do you balance the tension between doubt and faith?
Can you really trust God, considering the suffering, injustice, and hypocrisy you see in the news (and in your own life)? Can the Christian faith resolve your deepest longings? You are not alone if you feel spiritually adrift and directionless. Questions about God, faith, life, and the disillusionment toward church and religious leaders are widespread.
A God with Scars invites you to experience the broader Christian story. In these pages, the longings and questions of your own story become grounded with a God who does not avoid pain but enters into it, bearing wounds of His own. In this timely book, Rev. Dr. Jared Ayers offers a guided tour of the Christian Story for you who may be unfamiliar, skeptical, and disillusioned, lingering in the borderlands between faith and doubt. With a fascinating mix of theology, art, music, and literature, he invites you into a conversation about a Christianity that embraces doubt, mystery, and a God who understands suffering intimately.
In A God With Scars, you will finda series of conversations about Christian faith that are honest, hospitable, and intellectually compelling;a meaningful framework to help you work through your beliefs; andquestions at the end of each chapter to guide reflection.Here is a safe, compassionate space to reawaken hope and find meaning in the Christian story, despite living in a fractured world.
Can you really trust God, considering the suffering, injustice, and hypocrisy you see in the news (and in your own life)? Can the Christian faith resolve your deepest longings? You are not alone if you feel spiritually adrift and directionless. Questions about God, faith, life, and the disillusionment toward church and religious leaders are widespread.
A God with Scars invites you to experience the broader Christian story. In these pages, the longings and questions of your own story become grounded with a God who does not avoid pain but enters into it, bearing wounds of His own. In this timely book, Rev. Dr. Jared Ayers offers a guided tour of the Christian Story for you who may be unfamiliar, skeptical, and disillusioned, lingering in the borderlands between faith and doubt. With a fascinating mix of theology, art, music, and literature, he invites you into a conversation about a Christianity that embraces doubt, mystery, and a God who understands suffering intimately.
In A God With Scars, you will finda series of conversations about Christian faith that are honest, hospitable, and intellectually compelling;a meaningful framework to help you work through your beliefs; andquestions at the end of each chapter to guide reflection.Here is a safe, compassionate space to reawaken hope and find meaning in the Christian story, despite living in a fractured world.
192 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 9, 2026
“You Can Trust a God with Scars” is a book to read if you want to honestly wrestle with the doubts and questions. Likewise, it is an excellent book to gift a struggling, hurt, or doubting fellow believer.
Pastor Jared Ayers brings readers into a coffee shop style conversation where pain, questions, mystery, and doubt are allowed to come to the forefront. He writes:
“…this book is an extended conversation about why, even given our own whispering doubts and the wreckage of church-inflicted pain we live with, I still think it’s a good, true, and beautiful thing to be a follower of Jesus.”
I enjoyed how this book delightfully weaves together the Gospels and Ayers’ conversations and experiences with others alongside literature, music, and movies. All I can add is that I wanted even more of this in the book. 😃
Highlights:
“As we learn to trust the testimony of our core longings, we discover that they invite us to the Voice that quietly, persistently beckons.”
“In Jesus, God knows what human pain, weakness, exhaustion, sorrow, and suffering are. In fact, when you comprehend the immensity of the humiliation the Creator underwent in experiencing a solitary human life, you realize that all of Jesus' life was suffering, not just the end of it.”
“For some, the yearning for a homeland to which we haven't arrived materializes as a restlessness, a wandering dissatisfaction.”
“Scrubbing our discourse of sin language doesn't make the ugly realities we know all too well go away. It just cripples our capacity to deal with them.”
“Humans aren't brought into being as slave labor but to commune with God, know one another, and steward the beaury and possibility of the good creation.”
Total: ★★★★☆ (4.25)
Readability: 5
Impact: 4
Content: 4
Enjoyment: 4
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Pastor Jared Ayers brings readers into a coffee shop style conversation where pain, questions, mystery, and doubt are allowed to come to the forefront. He writes:
“…this book is an extended conversation about why, even given our own whispering doubts and the wreckage of church-inflicted pain we live with, I still think it’s a good, true, and beautiful thing to be a follower of Jesus.”
I enjoyed how this book delightfully weaves together the Gospels and Ayers’ conversations and experiences with others alongside literature, music, and movies. All I can add is that I wanted even more of this in the book. 😃
Highlights:
“As we learn to trust the testimony of our core longings, we discover that they invite us to the Voice that quietly, persistently beckons.”
“In Jesus, God knows what human pain, weakness, exhaustion, sorrow, and suffering are. In fact, when you comprehend the immensity of the humiliation the Creator underwent in experiencing a solitary human life, you realize that all of Jesus' life was suffering, not just the end of it.”
“For some, the yearning for a homeland to which we haven't arrived materializes as a restlessness, a wandering dissatisfaction.”
“Scrubbing our discourse of sin language doesn't make the ugly realities we know all too well go away. It just cripples our capacity to deal with them.”
“Humans aren't brought into being as slave labor but to commune with God, know one another, and steward the beaury and possibility of the good creation.”
Total: ★★★★☆ (4.25)
Readability: 5
Impact: 4
Content: 4
Enjoyment: 4
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.
January 24, 2026
This book of devotions was very thought. provoking and deals with some things I think about and wrestle with. The author’s insights and perspectives helped me in puzzling through and wrestling with some topics. I enjoyed this book enough that I bought a couple copies for friends as Christmas gifts before I had read every entry. Recommend this one for sure.
March 27, 2025
interesting; didn’t really manage to do what it said on the tin; Ayers is far too Christian to really get stuck into the Doubt part of it and the chapter about the Church was laughably shallow. HOWEVER, he’s an engaging and entertaining writer - he successfully kept me locked into scripture and its interpretations for 200 pages lol, and parts of it were genuinely uplifting!
January 2, 2026
This book isn’t for me.
What I mean by that is that this book is meant for those who don’t know much about the Christian faith. For those who have questions about the validity of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection. For those who don’t know if they can continue their faith or doubt the importance of the church—especially when the church has caused a lot of harm.
I read through this quickly because there was nothing really new for me here to read, however, I did enjoy Jared Ayers’s way of sharing the Gospel throughout his book. It was true yet also cognizant of the readers who may have doubts and/or past hurts in their lives as it concerns to faith in Jesus.
Would I recommend it to other believers? That would depend on where they are at with their walk. But would I give this book to a friend of mine who might want to know more about Jesus and how, ultimately, we CAN trust a God with scars? Absolutely.
*Thank you to NavPress for this book ARC. This is my honest review.*
What I mean by that is that this book is meant for those who don’t know much about the Christian faith. For those who have questions about the validity of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection. For those who don’t know if they can continue their faith or doubt the importance of the church—especially when the church has caused a lot of harm.
I read through this quickly because there was nothing really new for me here to read, however, I did enjoy Jared Ayers’s way of sharing the Gospel throughout his book. It was true yet also cognizant of the readers who may have doubts and/or past hurts in their lives as it concerns to faith in Jesus.
Would I recommend it to other believers? That would depend on where they are at with their walk. But would I give this book to a friend of mine who might want to know more about Jesus and how, ultimately, we CAN trust a God with scars? Absolutely.
*Thank you to NavPress for this book ARC. This is my honest review.*
February 4, 2026
Summary: For those wondering if God can be trusted, a study of the story of God’s intimate understanding of suffering.
I was in an Old Testament workshop with Dr. Stephen Hayner, former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He introduced the workshop stating that the main question the Old Testament, indeed all of scripture addressed was “Is God good and can we trust him?” There are good reasons many wonder if this is so both in what they see in the world around them and what they’ve experienced in their own lives. Jared Ayers has wrestled with this question personally. But what really brought the thoughts together that form this book were discussions with Daniel, a coffee-shop regular who found out he was a minister, and asked him about his sermon each week.
At the heart of those conversations was a walk through the Christian story. He begins with our deep longing for home and the sense that we are exiles. This is a reflection of how we turned our backs on a loving Creator, who then comes and asks, “Where are you? From here, he explores the currents of our contemporary life. We both rail against God for the rotten shape of the world, yet have to figure out where our sense of justice comes from. Quoting David Bazan, he says, we’ve “killed the captain, but…can still hear his voice.”
So, who is this voice? Ayers takes us back to God’s self-disclosure as I Am, YHWH. He makes the world in love, sticks with Abraham and his descendants, though they make a mess, and reveals himself in Jesus. At the heart of it all is love. Yet we are “miserable offenders,” and much of the mess of the world is one we’ve made. It’s beneath the floorboards of all our lives. Ultimately, God’s solution is to become one of us, “Incarno,” that is, “in flesh/meat.” God stoops to serve, enters into our suffering, and unjustly dies. This is the God with scars who may be trusted.
In succeeding chapters Ayers works out the significance of this identification with human suffering. And he offers reasons why we may believe the victory of the resurrection over suffering and death. Then there is the community formed by his Spirit, with all the messiness that needs perpetual reforming. He concludes with our hope of the return of Christ and how that affords hope for today.
Along the way, Ayers weaves his own story, references to contemporary film, art, music, and literature into a fresh re-telling of the Christian story. He leaves us with questions for reflection after each chapter. Not only does he not blink at the horrid realities of our world. He also shows us a God who didn’t blink but became one of us. God intimately acquainted himself with our condition. And he acted powerfully to show us another life is possible. This is a good book for doubters and skeptics, something all of us are in our most honest moments.
_______________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
I was in an Old Testament workshop with Dr. Stephen Hayner, former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He introduced the workshop stating that the main question the Old Testament, indeed all of scripture addressed was “Is God good and can we trust him?” There are good reasons many wonder if this is so both in what they see in the world around them and what they’ve experienced in their own lives. Jared Ayers has wrestled with this question personally. But what really brought the thoughts together that form this book were discussions with Daniel, a coffee-shop regular who found out he was a minister, and asked him about his sermon each week.
At the heart of those conversations was a walk through the Christian story. He begins with our deep longing for home and the sense that we are exiles. This is a reflection of how we turned our backs on a loving Creator, who then comes and asks, “Where are you? From here, he explores the currents of our contemporary life. We both rail against God for the rotten shape of the world, yet have to figure out where our sense of justice comes from. Quoting David Bazan, he says, we’ve “killed the captain, but…can still hear his voice.”
So, who is this voice? Ayers takes us back to God’s self-disclosure as I Am, YHWH. He makes the world in love, sticks with Abraham and his descendants, though they make a mess, and reveals himself in Jesus. At the heart of it all is love. Yet we are “miserable offenders,” and much of the mess of the world is one we’ve made. It’s beneath the floorboards of all our lives. Ultimately, God’s solution is to become one of us, “Incarno,” that is, “in flesh/meat.” God stoops to serve, enters into our suffering, and unjustly dies. This is the God with scars who may be trusted.
In succeeding chapters Ayers works out the significance of this identification with human suffering. And he offers reasons why we may believe the victory of the resurrection over suffering and death. Then there is the community formed by his Spirit, with all the messiness that needs perpetual reforming. He concludes with our hope of the return of Christ and how that affords hope for today.
Along the way, Ayers weaves his own story, references to contemporary film, art, music, and literature into a fresh re-telling of the Christian story. He leaves us with questions for reflection after each chapter. Not only does he not blink at the horrid realities of our world. He also shows us a God who didn’t blink but became one of us. God intimately acquainted himself with our condition. And he acted powerfully to show us another life is possible. This is a good book for doubters and skeptics, something all of us are in our most honest moments.
_______________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
February 12, 2026
This book is great for first line answers to that first round of honest questions when you're doubting Christianity - especially if you're open to faith but not so familiar with some of the Christian answers to some tougher questions.
Most of these questions and answers were things I've heard before and mostly moved past at this point in my doubts and fears, on to bigger or more complex questions. That said, I feel like that's because the intent of the book was that intro-to-mid level, not deep and higher-level apologetics. The author is someone I'd love to talk to about so many of my thoughts and doubts and questions, and this book made me realize I have a comrade in the author as far as someone who needs to think through what they believe. This book wasn't what I personally need at this stage, but it would be good for someone who is just beginning to question especially. The author seems so kind, genuine, and down-to-earth. This was a pleasure to read even if it didn't get down to the nitty gritty of my most complex doubts.
Most of these questions and answers were things I've heard before and mostly moved past at this point in my doubts and fears, on to bigger or more complex questions. That said, I feel like that's because the intent of the book was that intro-to-mid level, not deep and higher-level apologetics. The author is someone I'd love to talk to about so many of my thoughts and doubts and questions, and this book made me realize I have a comrade in the author as far as someone who needs to think through what they believe. This book wasn't what I personally need at this stage, but it would be good for someone who is just beginning to question especially. The author seems so kind, genuine, and down-to-earth. This was a pleasure to read even if it didn't get down to the nitty gritty of my most complex doubts.
April 14, 2025
"You Can Trust a God with Scars: Faith (and Doubt) for the Searching Soul", by Jared Ayers, intrigued me as soon as I read the title. Ayers wrote this book after coming to the point where he wandered if his whole belief system was a mistake, and if his 20 plus years as a pastor was all spent in vain. He compares the Christian life to "yearning for our true home" and the thirst we all have to know that what we believe is really true. I agreed with his assertion that "the living God is not an object to be studied, a force to be wielded, an idea to be argued. God will not be managed, pinned down, coerced, cornered. God is Life. God is Being. God is Mystery. God is wholly and entirely Other from us."
I appreciated Ayers' transparency and honesty, and think this would be a good book for someone who is struggling with what they believe. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
I appreciated Ayers' transparency and honesty, and think this would be a good book for someone who is struggling with what they believe. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
March 2, 2026
Here's an excerpt from review I wrote for the Englewood Review of Books: "In an era where “deconstruction” is more than just a buzzword and disillusionment with organized religion is at an all-time high, Ayers offers something rare: a seat at the table for the skeptics, the wounded, and the spiritually weary. You Can Trust a God With Scars isn’t a collection of easy answers or “just have more faith” platitudes. Instead, it’s a compassionate, intellectually rigorous invitation to look at the Christian story through the lens of a God who doesn’t just watch our suffering from a safe distance but carries the wounds of it."
October 7, 2025
I got this through the goodreads giveaway and I'll be honest, it's not my cup of tea.
I'm obviously not going to critique it harshly, because I am definitely not the demographic for it as someone who's agnostic. But I will say it it a bit of a rough read due to how it is written.
I'm obviously not going to critique it harshly, because I am definitely not the demographic for it as someone who's agnostic. But I will say it it a bit of a rough read due to how it is written.
September 25, 2025
I liked it but it was a bit confusing and hard to follow at times.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews