Entrepreneur, speaker and author Eric Sandor talks to Chris Porter about his new book
In this collection of devotions and meditations, Eric Sandor lets us into his conversations with God to encourage others along their faith journey. Each reading is full of imagery and revelation, from deeper topics like prayer and sorrow to adventure and joy. He talks about his writing process, his hopes and dreams for the book and for the people reading it, as well as the charity to which proceeds will be donated.
Where did the inspiration for your devotions in Strength for the Soul come from?
It is truly a book formed through God’s faithfulness, and my greatest delight in life is knowing God’s love. I firmly believe that knowing His love is what empowers you for life and enables you to deal with whatever comes, telling people about God’s love and helping them gain a real knowledge of how amazingly loving our Lord is. Each devotion comes from hard lessons and tender experiences with the Lord, which prompted me to write the book.
You faced a lot of hardship and pain before starting the book, how did you feel as you wrote this devotional?
I wrote Strength for the Soul when I was recovering from Covid-19 in the spring of last year. I had a really difficult time recovering from it and was struggling getting in and out of bed. I had recently published a book of poems which I wrote after the loss of my wife, and found it therapeutic to write, read and re-read them. Then, in late spring, George Floyd was murdered in America, and I was struck with a burden in me for the injustice in the world and for the marginalised. I had all this emotion which I was bringing to God, and that is when I remembered how helpful writing had been. I poured out my heart and cried out to the Lord throughout this process, writing the first devotion on prayer. I hope that one day the dam will burst, and all our prayers will be answered, and the world will conform to the Lord’s longings.
With all the photographs, it truly is a beautifully presented book. What was the reasoning behind the photographs rather than just words?
I often feel that the Lord communicates things through pictures and metaphors, so there are a lot of metaphors in the devotions I have written. I thought a beautiful image that is echoing the metaphor in the language of the devotion can help amplify the experience and deepen the revelation of it. It was important to have the images that correlate to the theme and metaphors in the devotions.
As people read Strength for the Soul, what do you hope they will get out of your devotional?
People have been isolated through these lockdowns and have suffered loss of various kinds, but I felt that, despite our circumstances, we can still have abundant life within. The abundant life is found with Jesus and through intimacy with Him, and so my deep desire for the book is that it will give people a way to get quiet with Jesus, spending time with Him and getting to know Him better, and that it brings us strength to stand through difficult circumstances. A diamond is made from pressure, and we too are spiritually formed through challenge, pressure, and difficulty, and how, in those times, we cling onto God and trust Him. I hope my book helps them along in this process.
The proceeds of this book are going to David’s Tent, what do they do and why did you choose them?
David’s Tent is a Christian charity that hosts seventy-two-hour non-stop worship events where people gather from all around the world, across different denominations and church expressions to worship Jesus. I think the people who come love it because of its purity, so it is a very special gathering. This book echoes my times of worship and the proceeds from it will go towards multiplying worship through David’s Tent. For more info visit www.davidstent.net.
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