About the Book

Book: DRAW NEAR: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings

Author: Hadassah Treu

Genre: Christian Non-Fiction

Release date: March 15, 2024

Can something so painful, even tragic, actually be God’s way of blessing?

As believers, we generally expect good things to happen in our lives. We expect a blessing upon blessing because we love God and He loves us and we form an expectation of prosperity (relational, emotional, and physical). And when the tragedy strikes and we enter a season of unwanted changes and suffering, we are shocked, angry, disappointed, and confused. We start doubting God’s love and His good intentions and plans. We begin questioning His ways and methods. We don’t understand. It is difficult to reconcile the pain we feel with what we know about God. This encouraging book aims to help you not only identify and accept specific losses but to realize that painful experiences could be the birthplace of blessings. We lose something, but there is more to gain.

What is God using your pain for?

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I received a complimentary copy of this book and all opinions given are my own and not an endorsement of all authors opinions.

Author Interview

● What was your process to align your book with your target audience?

The audience of my book "Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings" are Christian women and men (age 30 to 65) who have experienced some kind of traumatic or tragic events in their lives, such as rejection, betrayal, facing terminal disease in their lives or the life of a loved one, losing a loved one, losing a treasured relationship. These are Christians who, because of the losses they have endured, have experienced, to a different extent, discouragement and disillusionment in their faith. They struggle to reconcile their painful experiences with their faith. Often, they don't understand, and they can't find satisfying answers to their questions.

My process of aligning my book with my target audience was to identify with them and with their pain points, with their questions, doubts, and internal narratives. To this aim, I created an avatar if my ideal reader, named Susan, and imagined all main aspects of her life: her family, her past, job, interests, favorite books and shows, her traumas and the questions that keep her awake in the night. I even devoted the introduction of my book to her. This helped me to find the best way to help my ideal reader with my book.

● Was your writing process spontaneous as it came to you or very planned and organized? Why?

My writing process was planned and organized. The reason is that this is a non-fiction book and the publishing process includes preparing a book proposal that is sent to agents and publishers. An essential part of the book proposal is the book content and also a detailed chapter outline. The proposal also includes several sample chapters. So, it came to the actual writing; I had a very detailed roadmap of the book content which I followed. Of course, I was also flexible, and I made revisions in several chapters, adding additional topics, for example. The writing flow and the inspiration are also important. But it was very helpful to have a plan.

● Do you have a favorite time of day you are most productive in your writing?

I usually write in the afternoons and in the evenings. I think by creating and maintaining this writing pattern, my body and mind know it is time to write, and I rarely experience problems to be creative and productive.

● How many books do you personally own?

I have grown up surrounded by books. My parents loved buying books and when I had my own money, I bought books for myself, too. My husband also loved reading and e had books in all rooms in our apartment. After his death, I moved to Bulgaria, and I made a lot of our books as a donation to the local library in Austria.

Now, I own books in Bulgarian, English and German, in different genres. I estimate their number is between 400 and 450.

● What is your next big goal as an author?

I have several big goals. One is to bring my book “Draw Near” to a larger audience so more people can benefit from the transformational message of hope and comfort.

I also want to develop further and establish myself as a freelance writer.

Finally, my next big goal is to get a traditional publishing contact with one of the big publishers in the Christian market.

About the Author

Hadassah Treu is an international award-winning Christian author, blogger, poet, and speaker, and contributor to several faith-based platforms like Koinonia and Devotable, and a dozen devotionals and poetry anthologies in English and Bulgarian. She is a COMPEL Provers 31 Blog writer and Freelancing Community Group leader. Her writing is featured on (In)Courage, The Upper Room, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Her View From Home, Living by Design Ministries, Thoughts About God, Today’s Christian Living and other popular sites.

More from Hadassah

Why me? Why this? Why now? How am I going to heal from this pain? Where are you, Lord?

These are the questions I often asked when I stayed awake in the night, with tears burning down my cheeks. I needed a new perspective, a deeper understanding, and the assurance of God’s love and good plans in my painful experiences. I longed for comfort and hope, and help to fix my eyes on the divine transformation going on in my heart.

Do you face the same struggles?

We all do. We all need a biblical perspective and a new look at suffering to help us reconcile our painful experiences with what we know about God. Suffering remains a mystery and there is no simple theological answer to it. But what is our role? What are we supposed to think and do when we go through undeserved and unexpected pain and trauma?

The first and most important is to learn to see our dark moments as new chances and opportunities to draw near to God. We can choose to take off the glasses of loss and replace them with the lenses of God’s love, biblical truths, and thankfulness. Then our outlook will change and we will see more of the bigger picture. We can choose to live with open minds, believing God’s Word, with hands raised in prayer. We can commit to putting every effort into finding the balance between the reality we live in and the reality in which we live with God. It is in this balance of our reality and God’s reality that we find peace instead of fear, rest instead of anxiety, and wholeness instead of destruction.

Our painful experiences are glorious opportunities to draw near to God, to bond with Him, and to enjoy intimacy and fellowship with Him amidst the pain. This is the most important thing we can do in our lives because everything else results from bonding and connection. A loving connection with God births maturity, growth, transformation, and eternal blessings. Besides that, suffering is a privilege and a possibility to take part in our Lord’s sufferings and to know the power of His resurrection.

When we choose to listen and draw near to God in our pains, something miraculous will happen. God’s Spirit will birth blessings and precious gifts out of the pain.

Are you ready to unpack them?