Seattle: Finding hope in dark times is not an accident. Sometimes it has to be hunted, and that chase takes great strength. Author Nika Maples wants to help others find the fierce bravery required to excavate hope from hardship with her new book, Hunting Hope: Dig Through the Darkness to Find the Light (Worthy Inspired/April 19, 2016/ ISBN: 978-1617956652/$15.99).
Nika Maples certainly knows of what she writes: at age 20, she suffered a massive brainstem stroke that left her a quadriplegic. Doctors warned her loved ones she could have as little as 48 hours to live, and if for some reason she survived, she would never be able to walk or talk again. When Maples pulled through those critical hours, she awoke to find there was no hope on the horizon. So, she started to hunt for it. Today she not only walks but speaks to audiences all over the country about the power of relentlessly holding to faith when a situation appears impossible.
Maples warns those who have the opportunity to observe Hope Hunters not to be fooled by the light in their eyes and the smile on their faces. If bystanders look a little closer, they'll notice the dirt under their fingernails and the sweat on their shirts. These pursuers of light rake through the rubble of unwanted situations and dig into difficult circumstances because they know enough about God to make them confident adversity can produce good in their lives. This is not the delusion of the eternal optimist. The Hope Hunter acknowledges things are as bad as they seem, but they understand they can still search for - and find - God in the midst of it all.
The easier alternative for confronting trials is confusion, anger and despair. "Questions about suffering are questions about sovereignty," Maples reveals. "We want to be the ones in control, the ones who decide what can be used for good in our lives. If God is omniscient, He knew about your catastrophe before it hit, and if He is omnipotent, then He had to have allowed it to happen. The key to making peace with this idea is trusting His character. That is how we hunt for hope. Jesus is hope. And if we let Him, He will always lead us to Himself."
Hunting Hope was written for anyone in the midst of a desperate situation, whether a medical trauma, financial challenge or relational crisis. Maples offers empowerment and encouragement as readers learn to cling to 20 truths about God's character and practice five daily disciplines that will develop their own character.
Maples reminds readers to remember they are not defined by their suffering. "You are not the sick person. You are not the divorced person. You are not the unemployed person. You are not the depressed person. You may have lived through these seasons, or you may be there still, but that label is not your name. You are a child of the High King of Heaven. That is the only label that should stick enough to affect your actions and decisions throughout your life."
Join Nika Maples on Thursday, May 26 at 8:00 PM EDT for a live webcast. She will be discussing Hunting Hope and answering reader questions. Watch her Facebook page (nikamaples) for more details.
Advance Praise
"Readers will appreciate Maples' candor as she lays out her pain and feelings of inadequacy in plain sight and will find comfort in her uplifting lessons for overcoming personal difficulties of any kind."
~ Publishers Weekly
"Pain and suffering are found in unexpected places along life's journey. I highly recommend this book for those in darkness now but also for those wanting to prepare for either their own journeys or to help another through the journey of uncertainty."
~ Beverly Ross, MA, LPC, Founder and Executive Director of Wise County Christian Counseling
About the Author
Nika Maples is the author of Hunting Hope and Twelve Clean Pages, the memoir of her survival of lupus and a massive brainstem stroke that left her quadriplegic at age 20. She could not speak, swallow or blink, but her faith sustained her and a year later she walked back onto her college campus on her own two feet. Eventually, she became a public school teacher and taught English for 10 years, winning 2007 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year.
Maples holds an MA in English Education from Columbia University and is currently pursuing an MDIV from The King's University. She writes and speaks full time, sharing messages of hope and endurance with education, business and church groups across the country. When not traveling, she lives, writes and laughs as much as possible in Fort Worth, Texas.
Suggested interview questions
- In your book, you call readers to become hope hunters. What is a hope hunter?
- During hard times, why do fear and anxiety find God's people so easily?
- Why do we see in the Bible, time after time, a dark time precedes new growth or a new assignment?
- It's difficult to grasp that God allows - or maybe even causes - hard times in our life to accomplish His purposes. Why is this not inconsistent with His character?
- You say it doesn't matter what causes suffering in one's life nearly as much as what suffering causes in one's life. Explain what you mean.
- It may be tempting for someone to think, "This is easy for you to say. You don't know what I've been through." However, this book and its message sprang from a very personal place for you. Could you share some of your story?
- Why do you think you were sometimes tempted to let your circumstances define who you were?
- Who is your favorite biblical example of a hope hunter?
- You write hoping for change in front of a watching world can be embarrassing. Why did you feel that way?
- You live with chronic pain. Are your spirits always up? Have you ever been afraid the Lord would be disappointed in you if you allowed yourself to get down?
- How much does the fear of suffering have to do with control?
- Why is obedience so critical during dark seasons? How does someone know what obedience looks like for them individually?
- What are some of the steps to becoming a hope hunter?
- What advice do you have for the person wrestling with hope deferred during a long period of suffering?
Nika Maples is available for interviews to promote the release of Hunting Hope. To request a review copy, to schedule an interview or for more information, please contact Audra Jennings, audra@litfusegroup.com.
