Your Greater Is Coming: Discover the Path to Your Bigger, Better, and Brighter Future

This uplifting if repetitive guide by televangelist Osteen (Stay in the Game) offers advice for enduring hard times with the help of God. Using scriptural analysis and personal anecdotes, Osteen contends that there is a “comeback for every setback” because God has mercy for those who err. The author encourages readers to pray through difficult times and recounts when his Lakewood Church avoided a prolonged legal battle over a new location after the real estate company standing in its way voluntarily stepped aside, answering Osteen’s prayers. Cautioning readers against giving in to despair, the author unpacks the biblical story of how Elijah, during a yearslong drought in Samaria, correctly predicted the imminent arrival of rain because he trusted God more than what he saw around him. The exegesis, though, comes to feel trite as Osteen plods through scriptural stories and reduces each to the insight that “if you stay in faith, at the right time you will see it come together,” such as when he points to David’s steadfast devotion to God through the death of his son, and Joseph’s ascent to lead Egypt after his brothers sold him into slavery. Readers will find the affirming message comforting, though they may wish for a more substantial treatment. This optimistic if slight outing might tide over Osteen’s most ardent fans, but others need not apply. (Oct.)