Did-not-finish
The book's description from the publisher's website:
Author and speaker Cheryl Brodersen encouraged thousands of women to cast their worries to God’s care in her book When a Woman Lets Go of Her Fears. Now she inspires them to embrace their identity and fulfillment in Christ by shedding the lies that have plagued women since Eve: “I’m not good enough.” “God isn’t strong enough.” “I’m too flawed to be loved.” “God can’t use me.”
Cheryl presents engaging teaching, relevant examples from women today and from the Bible, and biblical, practical guidance to help women believe in God’s
Since Eden first blossomed, God has offered women love, guidance, fellowship, and purpose. Cheryl helps today’s woman exchange the burden of deception and pretense for the abundance, freedom, and fruitfulness God intended from the very beginning.
- sufficiency to meet their needs
- promises and power through His Word
- plans for goodness and fruitfulness
- blessings that follow obedience
I got through 24% of this book and out of courtesy decided to read no more. After the initial disappointment at the superficiality of insight and at the simplistic metaphors, I realized that I was reading just to find more to complain about. And this is not the reason why I chose to read this book or any other book, for that matter.
Just to give you an example of what I mean, when I say that the metaphors were simplistic and in effect, quite erroneous:
When talking to a particular woman who was going through difficult times (although what they were is not mentioned, which I think is another shortcoming) about trusting in God's promises, the author compared it to the process of baking a cake.
'I gave her the illustration of baking a cake. If I follow the recipe I can have the assurance of a delicious dessert. However, if I decide to omit a step like sifting or beating, or I choose to leave out an ingredient, I can't blame the recipe if the cake is a failure.' (location 472 in Kindle edition)
In other words, if we do everything God tells us to do, we'll receive the fulfillment of His promises, we'll enjoy 'a delicious dessert'. But we cannot disobey Him in any one of the rules (omit an ingredient or skip a step in baking), because then there will be no cake.
It couldn't get any simpler than that. My mind formed two questions immediately, however.
Has Ms. Brodersen life been really that easy, free of major complications, struggles and/or tragedies, that she could afford such a naive comparison?
What happens when I bake a cake, follow instructions to a dot, do not omit any ingredients, and the result is still a failure? This is not a hypothetical question, either. I happen to fail at baking every single time, no matter how much effort and time I put into it.
By resorting to such simplistic comparisons, the author automatically excludes people like me.
I reach out for such books to find advice and comfort, and some insight on how to proceed with my life riddled with struggles. I couldn't find it in When a Woman Lets Go of the Lies and at the danger of adding even more unanswered questions to my repertoire, I gave up.
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FTC: I received an e-galley of the book from the publisher, Harvest House Publishers via NetGalley.
When a Woman Lets Go of the Lies by Cheryl Brodersen will be published and available for purchase on October 1st, 2012.
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