“Receiving does not happen automatically in the life of a believer. To receive God’s truth in a personal way, you have to let go of the false hiding places and let yourself experience the truth of hiding in his presence.” (Grace for the Good Girl 139).
My first thoughts about Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life by Emily Freeman, were that it wasn’t for me. Not only did I not consider myself a good girl, I rarely try that hard at anything. A better book title for me would be “Grace for the lazy girl with a messy life who sometimes cusses in front of her kids, has a bad attitude and never eats vegetables.” But guess what? This book is about that girl too.
Because I lack the special ingredients that make me able to try harder at things, I often have these kinds of conversations in my head:
Because I want to please God, I should try harder to be delighted by the jumping, running screaming kids at our church’s Discovery kick-off and recognize the reward of teaching God’s love to them by reacting with smiles and a happy heart, rather than a headache and no small bit of fear about the coming year ahead.
Because I want to be healthy and have more energy, I should try harder to exercise and eat better instead of lying on the couch adding Snicker’s ice cream bars to my grocery list when they show them on the commercials.
Because I want to have a strong, loving bond with my children, I should try harder to spend individual time with each of them at bedtime, read them stories and tuck them in, rather than telling them no story tonight and praying they go to sleep quickly so I can run to my quiet room and watch television.
But I never really try harder. And if I do, I always fail.
The flesh is astonishingly weak.
“And so what happens in the life of a believer who has received both the gift of salvation and the knowledge of Christ’s everyday presence and empowering?
“Our faith will grow strong and we will overflow with thankfulness as we receive from and remain in him.” (153).
This book is for you.
Available now at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
