Getting Out from Under Pressure
A Feature Review of
The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World
David Zahl
Hardcover: Brazos, 2025
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Reviewed by Stephen R. Clark
“We’re all chasing relief,” states David Zahl in the introduction to his book, The Big Relief. But relief by what and from what? The subtitle answers both questions: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World. What’s wearing us out? In general, Zahl describes it as a kind of ubiquitous pressure. “The shape of the pressure fluctuates,” states Zahl. “Its presence does not” (3).
In 1981, Queen and David Bowie had a hit single titled “Under Pressure.” The song opened describing pressure that pushed and pressed down, that no one asked for. Pressure so severe it “burns a building down | Splits a family in two.”
It’s this sense of intense ever-present stifling that Zahl says we seek relief from. “The experience of being a person is, in many ways,” he writes, “the experience of craving and seeking relief. We want out from under, room to breathe, if just for a little while” (3).
Through nine chapters he then explores the pressures we seek relief from: deserving, regret, rejection, control, guilt, status anxiety, keeping up, productivity, and captivity. Each chapter is full of stories; some are of his experiences or those of people he knows. Others are found stories that support his points.
In each chapter, the response to the pressure is an application of some expression of grace such as forgiveness, favor, surrender, atonement, imputation, rest, play, and rescue. Some applications need the actions of other people, while the response to some is our own to apply.
He starts with the “hierarchy of deserving,” a big pressure we all face. He says, “A hierarchy of deserving is another way of talking about the scales of fairness by which we all abide” (13). This relates to work and more. It’s natural to feel we deserve something for the effort we expend. But more, Zahl points out the nagging sense of deserving we crave for enduring hardships, a points-for-pain scheme. The solution is a specific application of the overarching solution of grace.
It’s here he fleshes out a definition of grace, pulling from John Barclay’s book Paul and the Gift. Zahl explains that…
- grace is incongruous (“the gift does not match the recipient);
- grace defies our sense of proportion and timing ([God lavishes] grace on antagonistic men and women before they can prove themselves worthy”);
- and, finally, grace is superabundant (“mind-bogglingly maximal”) (15).
In other words, as Zahl explains, “Jesus does not relate to [us] on the basis of what [we] bring to the table but on the basis of who he is” (22).
Regret is “the pressure exerted by an imperfect past” (30), and forgiveness is the source of relief required. For countering rejection, Zahl prescribes favor, even toward those viewed as enemies. He states emphatically, “Much as I sometimes wish it weren’t the case, Jesus is not on board with the vanquishing of one’s enemies” (55).
He warns control can devolve into manipulation, violence, guilt, and abuse. Not to mention that it’s just plain exhausting. As Zahl states, “The burden of control is beyond human capacity” (60). The fix? Surrender. He explains, “Surrender is hopeful because where human control ends, faith in God begins” (69).
Guilt nags us and gets conflated with self-righteousness and righteous indignation, judging and being judged. Managing guilt is burdensome. Clues to the best approach can be found in the life of Jesus. “The Christian faith gives guilt a destination,” says Zahl. “The foot of the cross is our guilt depository” (94).
From our yearning to be valued surfaces status anxiety. “What we are talking about here,” explains Zahl, “is really the pressure to be somebody…” (100). We long to be notable, taken seriously, seen, yet, “believe on some level that we are not enough as we are.” The answer for Christians comes in imputation, specifically of our identity in Christ. It’s in Christ that true value is found.
Keeping up with the times, with what’s happening around us can lead to “anxiety, alienation, and fatigue.” Things move so fast, change is constant. “Acceleration exacerbates the pressure to keep up,” writes Zahl, “which feels harder and harder.” Not keeping up can leaves us feeling left behind, discarded, and irrelevant. The solution? “To be made in God’s image is to be a person who needs rest” (118).
“But,” we protest, “who can rest when there’s so much to do?” We love purposeful intense doing and being productive which makes us feel valued! “The pressure of productivity,” says Zahl, “turns life into an enormous balance sheet,” but one that never balances, but instead, sucks joy from our lives. Play is the counterbalance! Zahl quotes Nimi Wariboko who declared, “the logic of grace is the logic of play” (138).
All of these pressures have a cumulative effect of holding us in captivity. We are held against our will, “imprisoned and disempowered, no longer chief over one’s own life” (143). Too often, attempts to gain freedom devolve into “self-salvation” and legalism. Yet Luke 4, pointing back to Isaiah, declares that Christ came “to proclaim release to the captives.” In Him we are set free! “Yes, Jesus is the liberator,” says Zahl. “[And] it is the Holy Spirit that is the engine of our liberation” (148). He is our rescuer and our hope and our ultimate Big Relief.
This book preaches! “Grace is the Big Relief at the heart of Christianity,” declares Zahl. This is good news we all need to be reminded of from time to time. For those feeling the various pressures of life, Zahl offers excellent insight and encouragement to help find satisfying relief.
Stephen R. Clark
Stephen R. Clark is an award-winning writer who lives in Lansdale, PA with his wife, BethAnn, where they are members ofImmanuel Church. His website iswww.StephenRayClark.com. He is a member of the Evangelical Press Association and managing editor of theChristian Freelance Writers Networkblog. His writing has appeared in several publications. He writes an occasional blog about being a Christian introvert atwww.QuietlyFaithful.com.
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