Book Review: Blessed Are the Unsatisfied, by Amy Simpson

Blessed are the unsatisfied, for they shall find freedom. 

What is true satisfaction? Where does it come from? Where can we find it? Some preachers would say that God wants us to be materially satisfied now. Others would say that God is who we can be 100% satisfied in right here and now. Amy Simpson advocates that neither position is truly Biblical. 

Simpson's perspective is that our life on the earth should be marked by an unsatisfied life. One of her main passages used for this is the story of the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus promises the woman living water so that she will never thirst again. But this is not just one drink. Rather it is "a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14)." This water being a well certainly leaves some interesting application. Simpson interprets this verse to mean that rather than having one drink to satisfy us forever, we have access to a well that will satisfy us through eternal life. 

I enjoyed reading the thoughts in this book. True Biblical satisfaction is a concept that is often misunderstood. Simpson does a good job of explaining what an unsatisfied life here truly looks like. My one main concern with this book is occasional word choice errors. There can sometimes be a word that is much better suited for the part of the sentence, or some may take a word to mean something different. For example, in her description of Jesus being unsatisfied in this life, Simpson wrote, "and lost His temper over corruption in the temple (21, emphasis mine)." Some may take this choice of words to mean that Jesus sinned in the temple. Word choice is powerful and it's something for all writers to consider deeply. 

Overall, this was a good book. The concepts presented reflect a good Biblical perspective. With better word choice in some spots, it may have gotten a higher score. For these reasons, 'll give this book 4 stars out of 5. 

WHERE TO PURCHASE:
https://www.amazon.com/Blessed-Are-Unsatisfied-Spiritual-Imperfect/dp/083084497X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517098379&sr=8-1&keywords=blessed+are+the+unsatisfied

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:
Simpson, Amy. Blessed Are the Unsatisfied: Finding Spiritual Freedom in an Imperfect World. Downer's Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018

FTC DISCLOSURE:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from InterVarsity Press in order to write an honest, though not necessarily positive review on this pre-release. The opinions I have expressed are my own.