A New Book. A Daring New Life…

No, I haven’t written a book.  But one of my MOST favorite authors has.  And it’s on a topic that I knew far too well: Fear.

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear

And I’ve been reading the first chapter.  I was able to digitally ownload it free because I subscribe to his UpWords newsletter. (You can subscribe to this newsletter here, or click to read Fear Not and Fearless ch. 1)

Once again, in a matter of a few simple words, Max has drawn the ultimate portrait of life as we know it.  How it feels – how it works – and how God wants it to be…

And reminds me – once again – WHO IS the Master of the Storm.

On a day when I so need to be reminded.  When the waves threaten to crash over me and drown me.  When some of the difficulties of life just seem too difficult to fathom, let alone bear.

This statement:

Christ-followers contract malaria, bury children, and battle addictions, and, as a result, face fears. It’s not the absence of storms that sets us apart. It’s whom we discover in the storm: an unstirred Christ.

And these, too:

Fear does this. Fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness. We begin to wonder if love lives in heaven. If God can sleep in our storms, if his eyes stay shut when our eyes grow wide, if he permits storms after we get on his boat, does he care? Fear unleashes a swarm of doubts, anger-stirring doubts.

And it turns us into control freaks. “Do something about the storm!” is the implicit demand of the question. “Fix it or . . . or . . . or else!” Fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of a house, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases, people.

The more insecure we feel, the meaner we become. We growl and bare our fangs. Why? Because we are bad? In part. But also because we feel cornered.

Does that speak to you?  It sure does to me.  I have to reread it again and again to let it sink in.

And I’ll have to buy this book, for sure!