Books on Review: Max Lucado’s Fearless

Current discussion: Learning to and letting yourself be creative and artistic.

I owe Thomas Nelson a book review of Hank Hanegraaff’s Christianity in Crisis, 21st Century and have owed it since like April. You’ll see it in tomorrow’s post. But first, today is publication day for Max Lucado’s new book, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear. I was privileged to receive an advanced reading copy (even my mom got to read it on the cruise) and was very blessed (actually both of us were blessed).

Max Lucado produces amazing books, true. And this book is quite timely in that the summer of 2009 may be perhaps the most fearful of summers we’ve had in a while. Even 2001’s summer seems like a lifetime ago (pre-9/11, I don’t remember any fear at all) and so this book is one that I would press into the hands of friends who are struggling.

It was a wonderful reminder of God’s presence in our lives and that fear must flee when a person is sure of that presence. The thing is that it’s really tough to be sure of much of anything these days. Banks collapsing, a government completely overburdened (state and federal level) by rising debt, and a society stricken by the idea that we have to “retrench” and may have to give up our cable television, our fancy vacations, our shopping sprees, and big houses.

The book asked me what I based my fears on: society’s scariness or God’s neverending love for the human race. It’s hard to see God’s love when the worry clouds cover the horizon. Fear is like the dimming of the lights of faith. It’s like a city gone dark because the local government ran out of money.

Folks, fear will not leave anytime soon. We have to learn to live with it, learn to look at it from a different perspective, learn to look for something else. This book pointed me in the right direction: God’s GRACE. When I freak out (and I do this often) about things out of my control, I have to consider what I’m allowing to cloud my horizon. I have to quit looking at the dark.

Another book I read recently talks about my stuff (how I look at and treat the world and others), others’ stuff (how others look at me and treat me), and God stuff (how we will all survive the next natural or man-made disaster, or whether or not we will lose our jobs or homes). We have to get a grip over what really is “our stuff.”

You can’t guarantee your family won’t get swine flu, or that you won’t lose your job, or that you won’t go hungry. You CAN guarantee that your outlook is hopeful, and that you focus on what matters (your family, your faith, your hope) and you’ll have to also let go of what others do toward you (ignore you, mock you, deride you). I wished that Lucado’s book would have delved deeper into what people fear. I loved the book, but felt it was a light treatment. (Perhaps I go too deep too often.) I wished for more substance. I wished for a book that would quell the fears, power on those lights, and let the clouds blow away. And for many readers, Lucado’s Fearless will do that. For me, it pointed me in the right direction. For that, I am truly grateful.

Tagged as: Books on Review, fear, grace