Being Fully Known: The Joyful Satisfaction of Beholding, Becoming, and Belonging

This new book about trauma and trauma recovery by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith is both practical and very challenging. Not many people like to admit to trauma in their lives, but if we’re honest, we’ve all struggled at some points. We’ve all wrestled as a result of events that have happened to us; we’ve all had times when we have been led by our own faulty perceptions and lies rather than the truth.

In this new guide, Dr. Dalton-Smith inspires readers to hold the lives we live and the beliefs we live by under the dual lenses of God’s Word and God’s character. As we behold who God is and what he desires for us, our lives will be changed and transformed.

But the transformation process is not instantaneous, and Dalton-Smith lays out a framework for us where we can consider ourselves and our thoughts day by day, bit by bit, and question by question. Each chapter in the book has a different theme, such as beholding, belonging, and becoming. Each new idea is accompanied by Bible verses, applications, and a “daily unveiling,” which can be personalized to a reader’s specific set of circumstances.

The book highlights our good God and his ongoing work in our individual lives. We can rest and abide in him; we can consider his attributes in the unfolding of each new life season we face. As we learn from God and are guided by the Holy Spirit, each new season and opportunity can look different. God can call us to something for a season and then prompt us to leave it in the next. Our agendas can be “less fixed and more fluid” as we follow the movement and discernment of the Holy Spirit who equips and empowers us.

As we listen to the promptings of God during our weeks of abiding, we will be guided by God for weeks of action and interaction. Dalton-Smith introduces readers to 4 different fields of anointing as we are present with God and God is present with us: suffering, surrendering, stretching, and soaring.

Although trauma leaves people fragmented, God offers people healing. Our wounds in the past can influence our present, but God shapes who we are becoming and helps us be resilient and resourceful. Like Esther in the Old Testament, God might call us from the lives and paths we have previously known to embrace a new identity and calling with him.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It’s for those who want to grow and learn. It’s for those who are willing to set aside their comfort zones and explore thoughts, promises, and concepts they might not have pondered or journeyed with before. It’s not an easy read, but it’s a worthwhile one. (David C. Cook)