It’s obvious that one of the themes that I’ve dealt with lately (okay, so, my entire life!) is fear. I’m constantly battling it, and when this book came available to review for Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Bloggers program, I jumped on the chance. Here’s the info page on Thomas Nelson’s site where you can watch the video trailer and read the first chapter and other review and whatnot. But first, look at how pretty the cover is:
The computer screen doesn’t do it justice- the blue is stunning in person.
Okay, so down to serious business. Here’s the review.
Max takes several verses from the gospels where Jesus addresses different types of fear. It’s clear that He sees no use for it and wants His followers to understand that fear is completely unnecessary because He is present, in control, and loves them enough to take care of them for eternity. Many fear-inducing issues are addressed here: the welfare of children, fear of the future, fear of challenges, fear of disappointing God. He approaches them all with both scripture and real-life experiences. Rather than saying that Christians should be in denial about what they’re afraid of, he challenges us to approach them head on.
Max’s writing is absolutely beautiful. The way that he strings the words together has a calming effect. I found myself re-reading sections just because I wanted to soak them in again. My favorite chapters were The Villagers of Stiltsville (the fear of not mattering) and Caffeinated Life (fear of what’s next) because they are by far my greatest fears. For the former, he used the verse that so many of us are familiar with, about God even caring for the sparrows. Most of the time, when I hear that verse, it doesn’t really effect me. I’ve heard it too often. But Max’s illustration about the villagers and Punchinello made me realize how silly all of this worry about how other people finding me significant really is. I still struggle with it, but I have some more perspective now. Then, the Caffeinated Life chapter really challenged me about not expecting life to be perfect or easy while not being afraid of what really could happen. Even if my imagined worst-case scenario came about, the VERY worst-case scenario, being without Christ, will never happen. He will protect me and guide me through everything, and facing it with courage is much more admirable than rebuking demons out of every doorknob.
In short, I loved the book. I loved the reminders that I received and the perspective that it gave me. Reading it was such an enjoyable experience because of the writing style.
