Sarah Young was a bit of a mystery, wasn't she? For someone who sold over 45 million books and basically lived on everyone’s nightstand, she was almost never seen. No book tours. No big TV interviews. Just a name and a voice that felt like it was coming from a very peaceful place.
But behind the scenes, her life was anything but easy.
On August 31, 2023, the news finally broke that Sarah Young had passed away at the age of 77. For her millions of fans, it felt like losing a personal friend. But for those who had followed her health updates over the years, it wasn't a total shock. She had been "rapidly failing" for weeks, according to her publisher.
The Sarah Young Cause of Death: A Long Battle Ends
Honestly, there wasn't just one thing that took Sarah’s life. It was more like a long, grueling marathon of health issues that finally caught up with her. Sarah Young’s official cause of death was leukemia. She passed away at her home in Brentwood, Tennessee.
The leukemia was a late-stage fight, but it followed decades of other chronic illnesses that would have broken most people. Her daughter, Stephanie van der Westhuizen, shared that her mom had actually been struggling with her health for over 20 years.
The Leukemia Diagnosis
In late 2022, Sarah got real with her readers. She told them she’d been diagnosed with a type of blood cancer that was making her severely anemic. She started chemotherapy right away.
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It was a tough road.
Chemo is hard on anyone, but for a woman already weakened by decades of other issues, it was brutal. She asked for prayers, not for fame or more sales, but just to get through the side effects. By August 2023, her body simply couldn't keep up the fight anymore. Her publisher, Thomas Nelson, put out a call for prayer just days before she died, signaling that the end was near.
20 Years of "Invisible" Illness
Most people don't realize that Jesus Calling was actually birthed out of isolation and pain.
Back in 2001, while she was living in Australia as a missionary, Sarah started getting hit with weird symptoms. Chronic fatigue. Intense vertigo. Then came the Lyme disease diagnosis.
There were days she was confined to her room for 20 hours at a time.
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Imagine that. You’re one of the most successful authors on the planet, and you can barely walk to the kitchen. She often said that if she hadn't been so sick, she probably wouldn't have written the books. She had "more time to focus on Jesus" because she couldn't do anything else.
A Timeline of Her Health Struggles
- 2001: Moves to Perth, Australia. Quickly develops symptoms of chronic fatigue and Lyme disease.
- The Middle Years: Battles melanoma (skin cancer) and extreme vertigo that leaves her housebound.
- 2009: Spends six months in the U.S. for intensive Lyme treatment, but it doesn't really work.
- 2013: Moves back to Tennessee to be closer to family as her health continues to decline.
- 2022: Diagnosed with blood cancer (leukemia) and starts chemotherapy.
- August 31, 2023: Passes away peacefully at home.
Dealing with the Controversies
It wasn't all just "peace and presence," though. Sarah Young was actually quite controversial in some circles.
While millions loved her, some theologians were... skeptical. They didn't like that she wrote her books from the perspective of Jesus speaking directly to the reader. Critics like Tim Challies and some folks at The Gospel Coalition warned that it felt too much like "new revelation" rather than just biblical teaching.
Sarah was always pretty humble about it. She never claimed her words were on par with the Bible. She just called it "listening prayer." Basically, she’d wait in the stillness and write down what she felt the Holy Spirit was nudging her with.
She kept her face out of the spotlight partly because of her health, but also because she didn't want the "fame" to distract from the message. She was the definition of "publicity-shy."
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Why Her Death Still Matters
Sarah Young’s death marked the end of an era for Christian publishing, but her books are still moving units like crazy. Why? Because she spoke to people in their "darkest hours," as her publisher Mark Schoenwald put it.
She knew what it was like to be stuck in a bed, wondering if God still cared.
Her life proves that you don't have to be "fine" to be useful. You can be sick, tired, and stuck in a room in Tennessee, and still change the lives of people in 35 different languages.
If you are looking for a way to carry on her legacy or find the same comfort she did, the best next step is to look into her final work, Jesus Listens, which focuses on the power of prayer during those difficult "waiting" seasons of life. You might also want to explore her family's mission work with Mission to the World (MTW) if you want to see the "on-the-ground" impact she and her husband Steve had before the books took off.
Actionable Insights & Next Steps:
- For Prayer Journals: If you're struggling with chronic illness like Sarah did, starting a "listening journal" can be a cathartic way to process pain.
- Resource Check: Look for the 10th-anniversary editions of her work for deeper insights into how she wrote during her most difficult years with Lyme disease.
- Legacy Support: Consider donating to Mission to the World (MTW), the organization Sarah and her husband served with for nearly 30 years.