This week marks the release of my first solo book for adults, Ten Women Who Overcame Their Past. I’m going to talk a little bit about why I think it’s relevant for women who feel they are already doing fine in their spiritual lives.
When I started writing this book, I thought I was doing fine in my spiritual life! I was a good Christian, a good person, and nobody could fault me too much looking from the outside.
The number–one reason is that, when I started writing this book, I thought I was doing fine in my spiritual life! I was a good Christian, a good person, and nobody could fault me too much looking from the outside. My idea for this book was to write ten potted biographies with a little bit of commentary and some discussion questions. Sure, I’d learn as I went along, but mostly I’d be teaching. The hard part would be the research; the ‘spiritual’ bit I already knew inside–out.
What I learned was that I was not in a position to ‘teach’ anybody how to live a good life before God! It was my own heart that was in need of overhaul. In reality it was riddled with complacency, self–reliance, ambition and fear. The Lord needed to lead me to some deep repentance and a renewed longing to have not just my behaviour but my heart conformed to His. That is now an ongoing process in my life and the process of writing this book has challenged and taught me far more than I could ever have anticipated. Writing it showed me that I am just a learner Christian, walking alongside other learners, and needing to rely on Christ for every page. I had to be turned inside–out!
Reason two is that, even if you’re in a relatively calm place in life, I don’t know anybody who isn’t going through, or hasn’t gone through, suffering. Suffering doesn’t have to be dramatic, like living in a refugee camp or losing your whole family. Suffering is loneliness; ill health; fractured relationships; withholding forgiveness. These are all topics I talk about in the book, and even in chapters you might not think apply to you, there are underlying issues relatable to all of us. For example, you might not have an eating disorder, but you might still desire control to an extent that stops you fully trusting in Jesus. As you move through the book, I think you’ll recognise underlying attitudes in your own heart that have perhaps not yet come to the fore, but still need to be challenged before the Lord. And you will recognise past struggles and hurts and find here a place of comfort and rest.
You might also be doing ‘fine’ in the sense that your pain runs so deep, it’s easier just to give a glib answer to anyone who asks how you’re doing. You might be so fragile that you feel a kind look or a word of concern would fracture you to pieces, or so confused that you simply can’t see past out of your own darkness. If that’s you, then let this book be your friend and walk alongside you out of that pain. Because this is a book about hope.
Can you be fruitful if you have been ensnared in sexual sin? YES. Can you be fruitful if you are full of grief over losing a loved one? YES. Can you be fruitful if you’re unhappily single and feel like only half of a whole? YES.
Can you be fruitful if you have been ensnared in sexual sin? YES. Can you be fruitful if you are full of grief over losing a loved one? YES. Can you be fruitful if you’re unhappily single and feel like only half of a whole? YES. There is nothing you’re walking through that Jesus can’t relate to, and that other women of God before us haven’t gone through too. In seeing how these very trials led to their greatest victories in Jesus, you will see clearly that He can also accomplish great things through you – not despite, but because of, the hardest times in your life.
I dedicated this book to my seven–year–old daughter. The image of her slowly growing into the woman she will become, overcoming babyish ideas and childlish selfishness, learning to control and harness her emotions, is a good picture of how we grow up in Christ. ‘We are not what we were, but we are not what we will be.’ She doesn’t know yet what it is to joust with adult temptation or bitterness or self–righteousness, but I hope this book is there for her when she does. And I hope it points her, and you, to the One who ultimately gives us the victory.
Dayspring MacLeod blogs at reliablenarrator.wordpress.com. She is very happy to correspond privately via the contact form, to address questions and to pray for you.
