I remember many years ago when I read “The Purpose Driven Life,” by this same author. It had an impact on me so profound that when I saw this book on the shelf in the chapel library, I thought I’d give it a read. Given “Life” is quite difficult at the moment, it resonated appropriately.
Mr. Warren utilizes many “I statements” throughout the whole book, specifically 11 of the 12 chapters start with “How can I…”. The author focuses on the Bible and its ability to provide answers to life’s most difficult questions. D.L. Moody once said, “the Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.” In each of this book’s 12 studies you learn ways to apply God’s word to your personal life, your family, other relationships as well as your career. One example would be in Chapter 8, “How Can I be Confident in a Crisis.” He writes, “character is revealed in a crisis, not made in a crisis.” In other words, character is how you react to a problem, given who you truly are. This stems from how we have experienced life and applied that experience to an issue. Sometimes reactions to such problems lead people to sell everything and run to start over, which can be a disastrous change. Staying put or “putting down some anchors,” as the author describes, is a better way to handle. One anchor would be to look for God’s presence and purpose and wait for the answer, rather than running away.
Each of the chapters address issues such as defeating depression, handling discouragement and overcoming loneliness. The combination of biblical principles along with relevant applications to one’s life is satisfying.
For me, chapter 2- “How can I rebound from failure” really hit home. Realizing failure can be a stepping stone to success is told by Luke (5:1-11) about Peter. Peter and several others were out fishing all night, and even though he was a professional they came back empty handed. This was his livelihood, and completely necessary to live. Jesus came around all nonchalantly, killing it in his Doc Martin sandals trimmed in yellow, and asked Peter if he could use his boat to speak from. He had a crowd that came to hear him, and this allowed him to speak right off shore. Peter agreed, and when Jesus was finished with his eloquent and “John Maxwell” inspired seminar that brought a roar from the crowd, he told Peter to move the boat out a bit into deeper water. There, Peter and his crew caught more fish than ever before.
The following could have saved me and many others from failures in our lives.
Appropriate God’s presence in your life: Get Jesus in your boat!
Cooperate with God’s plan: Obediently listen and follow His instructions.
Anticipate God’s promises: Believe first! Faith is a requirement.
Finally, listen to the small still voice- it’s right, you know it’s right, and it always has been. Try it again with Christ. I know this worked eight years ago when I met Brianne. If only I had done the same thing businesswise… but stay tuned.
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