Have Faith

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Recommended: Theme of peace like a river

Has anyone ever told you to, “Just have faith?” This is what Leif Enger, the author of the novel Peace Like a River wants readers to know after reading this powerful story. Having faith is trusting God to a certain outcome when it is utterly ridiculous and illogical. Faithful people believe in something that they cannot comprehend. In Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, the idea that the author wants us to know that we should have our hearts open to God and his great works, and that we should have faith is demonstrated thorough the messages that Enger exhibits through these miracles — that God is ever-present, that we should recognize God and trust in his doings, and that miracles are a way for God to show Himself to us.

God is constantly watching over us, and guiding us throughout our lives. There are signs of this message even early on in the book. During the event of Swede’s kidnapping, Jeremiah was unconscious, but suddenly wakes up to a notion that something is not right. “He [sat] upright, and his eye [were] wide and troubled, and ‘Son,’ he [said], we have to leave,” and he was right. He could not have just got that feeling out of nowhere. God was watching over him and Swede and trying to keep them safe. Then, later on, when the family finally runs out of gas, after they have gone a long time with virtually no gas, they happened to come to stop at Roxanna’s, who became a loving and vital addition to their family. In addition to the phenomenon that they went so long without gas, when they run out they are right next to someone who can help them. This is more than coincidence. God was helping the family through the journey and making sure that they were okay. Jeremiah also personally experienced being led by God, who was th...

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...rough events such as miracles. The more He tries to communicate with us through these events, the more He hopes that we will discover him in our lives.

The theme that Leif Enger wanted the readers to take away after reading this novel is that we should have faith in God. Through the extraordinary situations described in the book, we can learn that God is always there in our lives to pave a path for us, we need to have confidence in God to see him in our everyday life, and that we can see God through miracles and other events that happen in our life. Even when you are going through really bad moments always remember that there is a reason for that and there will always be good moments afterwards. This is as true as telling someone that tomorrow the sun will rise again. No matter what you are living at this moment if you have faith you will find a solution.

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