Where is God when hardship hits hardest? How do we reconcile a loving God with seasons of silence, pain, or perceived abandonment? These are the haunting questions Michele Cushatt faced—and the heart behind her deeply stirring book, Relentless: The Unshakeable Presence of a God Who Never Leaves.
Through twelve poignant chapters, Cushatt takes readers on a journey through both Scripture and her story, tracing evidence of God’s presence―“stones of remembrance”―echoing the Israelites’ memorial in Joshua 4. Each chapter centers around a biblical story that reveals one unbreakable truth: God is with us—always.
This 12-chapter masterpiece is part memoir, part devotional, and part theology, blending realism and revelation to unveil a God who has never stopped walking beside His children, even when their world caves in.
Overview: A Search for Proof of Presence
Cushatt begins with gut-level honesty—confessing her doubts and weariness after facing numerous life traumas: three battles with cancer, multiple surgeries, a painful divorce, adoption challenges, and her father’s death. Despite a lifetime of faith, she wrestled with the haunting silence of God.
She asks readers to join her in collecting “stones” of evidence—moments, stories, and memories pointing to God’s relentless nearness. “Like the Israelites who built an altar of twelve stones after crossing the Jordan,” she writes, “we, too, can build visible reminders that God’s presence has carried us through.”
Each chapter of Relentless serves as one of those stones. Let’s examine all twelve and how they build the altar of divine presence that refuels our fading faith.
Chapter 1: A Garden — A God Who Has Always Wanted to Be With You
The first stone is the Garden of Eden—the birthplace of relationship between God and humanity. Cushatt reminds us that God’s original goal was never productivity but presence.
She paints Eden not as a mythic paradise but a symbol of God’s unbroken desire for connection. Even after humanity’s rebellion, God’s first move was not destruction but pursuit—He walked in the garden calling Adam and Eve by name.
Personal Reflection: Cushatt relates this to her own longing to return to a simpler, pain-free season of faith. But through Scripture she finds that our life’s goal isn’t returning to Eden’s perfection—it’s rediscovering God’s proximity in our imperfection.
Lesson: From the beginning, God has been Emmanuel—“God with us.” The garden shows us He’s been pursuing intimacy with humanity all along.
Chapter 2: A Smoking Firepot and a Blazing Torch — A God Who Promises to Be With You
The second stone draws from Genesis 15, where God makes a covenant with Abraham using a mysterious vision—a smoking firepot and a blazing torch passing between divided animal sacrifices. Here God symbolically pledges, on His own, to remain faithful no matter what.
Meaning: Covenants usually involved both parties passing between the pieces—a sign of mutual obligation—but this time, God alone walks through the fire, declaring, “If I fail, let Me be broken.”
Cushatt’s Lesson: In her most painful seasons—tubes in her throat, scars on her neck—she discovered that God’s promises remain unshaken by human frailty. His presence is not contingent on our performance.
Takeaway: God makes and keeps His promises, even when we cannot hold up our end. His presence isn’t earned—it’s guaranteed.
Chapter 3: A Ladder and a Limp — A God Who Meets You Where You Are
Next, Cushatt leads us to Jacob’s encounter in Genesis 28. Fleeing his brother’s wrath, Jacob dreams of a ladder connecting heaven and earth—a bridge of divine presence.
Later, in Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with God through the night and leaves the encounter limping but blessed. Cushatt sees this as a metaphor for grace within weakness.
Insight: Like Jacob, God meets us in our mess, not in our mastery. Cushatt writes, “The ladder reaches both ways—God descending to meet us as much as we climb toward Him.”
Her Experience: After her surgeries left her physically disfigured and in chronic pain, she learned that her limp was not a curse but a reminder that she had wrestled with God and survived.
Lesson: True faith isn’t strength without scars—it’s worship limping toward grace.
Chapter 4: A Burning Bush — A God Who Calls You Out of Hiding
Before the reader moves too quickly, Cushatt pauses on Moses’ encounter with the burning bush (Exodus 3). Although the publisher lists twelve core stories, this one serves as Cushatt’s connection between failure and mission.
Moses, haunted by regret and fear, hides in exile. God chooses that moment to appear—to declare, “I have seen, I have heard, and I have come down.” Cushatt highlights this as a reminder that God often meets us amid our excuses, rekindling purpose in seasons we’ve written off.
Lesson: Even when you hide in shame or fear, God’s call and presence still find you.
Chapter 5: A Pillar of Cloud and Fire — A God Who Is with You When You Wander
Cushatt then explores Exodus 13–14, where God guides His people as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. In the disorienting wilderness, Israel never lacked direction.
For Cushatt, this echoes her own long years of spiritual wandering—seasons when prayer felt lifeless and answers were delayed. Yet, even in silence, God’s providence moved one step ahead.
Modern Application: Like that pillar, God’s Spirit still leads today—through Scripture, community, and discernment. We may not see Him clearly, but His light still shines ahead.
Takeaway: Wandering is not wasted. God tends to lead His people through detours that refine trust and character.
Chapter 6: A Tabernacle — A God Whose Mercy Carries You
The Israelites longed for permanence in their worship, so God instructed them to build a tabernacle, a movable meeting place for His presence. Cushatt interprets the tabernacle as a symbol of both fragility and faithfulness—it was temporary yet sacred.
She compares it to her own body—a fragile tent housing divine mercy through hardship. In all her surgical trauma, physical pain, and limitations, she learns that God sits with us in our own tabernacles—our lives—no matter how imperfect.
Key Point: God dwells amid our humanity. His mercy doesn’t relocate when we suffer.
Takeaway: The portable tabernacle reveals grace on the move. We don’t need perfect circumstances to experience God’s presence.
Chapter 7: A Clef in the Rock — A God Who Is with You When You Reach the End of Yourself
This pivotal story from Exodus 33 mirrors Cushatt’s breaking point. Moses asks to see God’s glory, and God hides him in the cleft of a rock, allowing only His back to pass by.
Spiritual Insight: When your strength is gone, God’s shadow sustains you. Cushatt describes her third battle with cancer as her own “cleft” season—where God’s silent nearness became her survival.
Lesson: Faith doesn’t chase after control; it clings to presence. When everything collapses, God’s hand covers us.
Chapter 8: Twelve Stones — A God Who Wants You to Remember
When Israel crosses the Jordan (Joshua 4), God commands them to gather twelve stones as a memorial. When future generations ask about them, they’ll testify, “This is where God delivered us.”
Cushatt frames this as the model for her whole book: every chapter is a stone marking where she found evidence of divine presence.
Invitation to Readers: Identify your own twelve stones—moments when God met you, carried you, or healed you. Naming those stories turns memories into monuments.
Takeaway: Gratitude builds faith. Remembering fuels trust for tomorrow’s storms.
Chapter 9: An Altar in the Wilderness — A God Who Meets You in Your Grief
Here Cushatt explores moments of grief similar to Elijah’s despair in 1 Kings 19. Running from fear and failure, Elijah collapses under exhaustion until God touches him gently and provides bread and water.
She observes: In suffering, God rarely lectures—He nourishes. Cushatt relates how friends and family tangibly became God’s provision for her weary heart, reminding her that divine presence often comes disguised in human kindness.
Lesson: God’s faithfulness often arrives quietly in the desert through the hands of others.
Chapter 10: A Cave in the Dark — A God Who Speaks in the Silence
Still citing Elijah’s experience, Cushatt reflects on 1 Kings 19:11–13, where God’s voice wasn’t in the wind, earthquake, or fire but in the gentle whisper.
Years after her recovery, she realized that the silence she feared was not punishment, but intimacy. God’s whispers could only be heard once the noise of striving faded.
Takeaway: Silence is not God’s absence; it is sometimes His softest form of presence.
Chapter 11: A Cross on a Hill — A God Who Suffers With You
Cushatt centers this chapter on the crucifixion, revealing the ultimate evidence of God’s relentless proximity—He didn’t stay distant but entered our suffering Himself.
From Eden’s garden to Golgotha’s hill, God’s story is one of pursuit. In Christ’s agony, Cushatt recognizes a Savior who fully understands the bleeding complexities of human pain.
Lesson: The cross is our clearest stone of remembrance — proof that even death cannot separate us from love.
Reflection: She reminds readers that because Jesus endured abandonment on the cross (“My God, why have You forsaken me?”), we never have to face abandonment ourselves.
Chapter 12: An Empty Tomb — A God Who Will Never Leave You
The final stone anchors hope in resurrection. Cushatt closes her book with the Easter story — the ultimate reversal of abandonment.
After years of wrestling with disease and uncertainty, she concludes that faith doesn’t remove pain but promises presence in perpetuity. God’s relentless pursuit culminates in an empty tomb, announcing that life—not loss—has the final word.
Takeaway: Resurrection isn’t just Jesus’ story—it’s ours too. Every end is a beginning made sacred by the eternal presence of God.
The Message Michele Cushatt Wants to Convey
Relentless delivers a gentle but profound truth: God’s presence is real, reliable, and relentless—even when life disproves every feeling.
Cushatt’s message can be summarized in three convictions:
- God’s nearness is the thread through all Scripture. Across twelve biblical scenes—garden, firepot, ladder, pillar, tabernacle, rock, altar, cross, and tomb—God repeatedly declares: “I am with you.”
- Proof of presence outweighs the pain of absence. Cushatt encourages readers to identify and name their own evidences—tiny miracles, moments of grace, relationships that carried them—as “stones” that anchor faith through doubt.
- Faith and doubt can coexist. God isn’t afraid of our questions; His presence remains steady through unbelief.
In the author’s words: “When everything you’ve trusted crumbles, faith becomes less about proof and more about Presence.”
Why You Should Read Relentless
- For those in suffering: It gives permission to doubt without despairing.
- For long-time believers: It revives a tired faith by drawing you back to God’s story of pursuit.
- For seekers: It offers authentic evidence that God hasn’t abandoned you even when everything falls apart.
Michele Cushatt blends storytelling, Scripture, and theology into one compelling truth—that the God of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus is still “God with us.”
Final Reflection: Collecting Your Own Stones
By the time readers finish Relentless, they’ve walked hand in hand with a storyteller who bleeds grace. Cushatt’s invitation is clear: remember where God has shown up before, because those stones will steady you when the next storm hits.
Her story reminds us not to chase miraculous proof but to hold onto the everyday evidences of mercy we already have—God’s fingerprints across our lives.
Final Takeaway: You are never abandoned; the God who walked the garden still walks beside you. His presence may whisper—but it’s unwavering, unshakeable, and relentlessly with you.
Unique FAQs
Q1 What is the main theme of “Relentless”?
The book’s main theme is God’s unwavering presence, even in suffering and doubt.
Q2 Who should read this book?
Anyone struggling with faith, pain, or loss will find deep comfort and hope in this book.
Q3 Is this a memoir or a devotional?
It’s a blend of both—a memoir infused with spiritual insights and practical applications.
Q4 How does Michele Cushatt inspire readers through her story?
Through raw honesty, she shows that even when life breaks you, faith can rebuild you.
Q5 What’s the key takeaway from “Relentless”?
That no matter what happens, God is with you—relentlessly loving, present, and faithful.