Woman seen through God's Eyes

I almost didn’t ask for a review copy of this book because I’ve seen so many ‘devotionals’ lately and most of them are pretty much the same. They serve their purpose, each one for a different audience, but the pattern is the same, pick a verse or short passage, a little bit about a lesson from the passage and how it applies to YOUR life, perhaps a question or two to help you think, and a sentence prayer to close it out. A good way to start the day, with a particular focus, is through reading a short devotional. Those few minutes help us to start the day by turning to God, and that might be what sets the tone for the day, and all that happens to us.

But I’m so glad I ordered Women of Courage: a Forty-day Devotional (From the (in)courage Community, edited by Mary Carver, B&H Publishing, 2019) This book notches it up at least a few steps. First of all the devotions are grouped by categories; categories that allow women of the bible to be seen in the roles that God intended for them, rather than just a group of women who were present in biblical times, but whose purpose was often downplayed. Women are LEADERS, FRIENDS, and BRAVE. They overcome their BROKENNESS, and they are full of HOPE, GRACE, and GRATITUDE. They often teach us how to WORK TOGETHER, OFFER HOSPITALITY, and DISPLAY GRATITUDE.

Another positive is the fact that instead of just a verse or two, we get an entire passage. While some people can take a single verse and preach for close to an hour, the longer passages give the reader an opportunity to hear the entirety of the account, which means that what they read next is in the context of what God is saying through the lives of these remarkable women.

And just as the passage is longer, the devotional content is also longer. There is more opportunity to flesh out the meaning of the passage and more opportunity to apply it to what’s going on in our lives today…a reminder that God’s truths are timeless, not just something that happened thousands of years ago.

The variety of prayers is also refreshing. Many people have problems praying, because they have never been taught how to pray. While these prayers are focused on the respective passages, they could also be used as a teaching too.

As a member of the publisher’s blogger’s program, I received a copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review.

4.5/5