Read: Book Review of By Faith, Not By Sight

Many moons ago (read: before having 3 children), Ben and I loved the show American Idol. I remember being very pregnant with my first-born- as in a week before delivery- and watching Carrie Underwood win the title for that year.

We watched for a few more seasons, then life just got in the way and we didn’t watch as much anymore. I remembered hearing a few years ago about a Christian contestant on the show-which isn’t highly unusual- but this contestant was also almost 100% blind.

So a few months ago, when I was given the chance to review an auto-biography about this same guy, I jumped at the chance. His name? Scott MacIntyre. His story? Incredible. I especially love the title of his book- an abbreviation of 2 Corinthians 5:7- “We walk by faith, not by sight.” In Scott’s life, this is both a physical, as well as spiritual, way of life for him.

Scott writes beautifully and honestly about his story- not in a “pity party” sort of way, yet conveying how difficult some aspects of his life are. Things that people with sight take for granted- cashing a check, buying books for college, crossing a street.

Shortly after the book begins,  Scott also begins a journey with kidney disease in addition to his blindness. For a few years, he and his family go through the diagnosis process, and decide along with his doctors whether he should have a kidney transplant. I found this aspect of the book especially interesting since my son (the aforementioned first-born) will most likely need a liver transplant at some time in his life. (I will also put in a plug for organ donation here- click here to sign up if it’s something you’d like to learn more about, or feel free to e-mail me.)

Anyway, back to the book. Scott gives a raw look at how he felt when he was at his sickest- I love that he doesn’t try to sugar coat what it felt like. Yet even in his weakest hour, he knew that God had an ultimate plan for his life.

Even though I’m not much of a biography person, I chose to read this in my month of “no reading fiction” and I really enjoyed it. If you would like to have your faith challenged in a real way- and learn the inspiring story of an incredible musician- this book is a great read.

This book was provided by   All opinions are mine, and no other compensation was provided.If you would like to purchase this book through Amazon, you can click here and I will earn a very small commission!