Feb 21, 2015 / Book Reviews
Book Review: Anything | Jennie Allen
This book is one of the most incredible and inspiring books I’ve ever read. Jennie Allen writes in a very transparent and humble style that made me feel a part of her story as I related to so much of her struggles as she grasped for significance.
The main theme of the book is telling God you’re willing to let Him do anything with your life. What a challenge! This book is perfect for anyone who’s searching for meaning and also looking for a nudge to really step forward trusting God to do big things in their lives.
I personally feel God has given me a passion and a calling into ministry and as exciting as that is it’s terrifying! This book hit close to home as she talks about the conflict between desiring God to do huge things through her life and the fear of pleasing people, living securely, and being happy.
I’m challenged by this book to let go of my fear and throw my life into the hands of a God who is all powerful and all caring. It’s a scary idea to think about but I know this is the only way my life matters for eternity.
There are so many quotes to pull from in this book but a few stand out:
I loved God, but I loved un-invisible people more. I worshiped them. (35)
Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose way you may not understand at the time. (58) – Oswald Chambers
You have to thank God for the seemingly good and the seemingly bad because really, you don’t know the difference. (59)
Our faith must remain greater than our pain and our fears. (61)
Until there is total surrender, there is no vision. (85)
Suffering affects my life for eternity in a positive way. I’ve never lived that way. I’ve lived trying to fix everything hurting in me with counseling and a good latte. And while none of that is bad, it never fully worked. I still hurt. What I wasn’t told is that it is supposed to hurt. War isn’t supposed to feel easy and comfortable and happy. (104)
All my life I thought I had God’s stamp of approval because my life wasn’t going badly. Now I was faced with the fear that it might actually be the opposite. What if my life was going so beautifully because I wasn’t chasing after God? (108)
I knew that if God wanted me to do something more, I would need to wait on Him to pull it off. I did not want to create something and then wonder if it had been me or God. I would obey as He revealed the next step, and, in the meantime, live as faithfully as I could through the typical stuff. (141)
We have become such a pragmatic society with our pros and cons and schedules that when we get to matters of radical obedience, it’s easy for us to talk ourselves out of it. (152)
Do your everyday and your ordinary, Godliness is found and formed in those places. (165)
When we don’t love or feel joy or peace or passion, it’s because we do not know his love or his joy or peace or passion. He is a person, not a magic pill you take when your life or your soul is broken. (169)
Summary
God want’s to do something significant through my life and that starts in the everyday. As I live my life surrendered to Him in the small things and in the ordinary He will continue to grow my passion and desire to serve Him. He doesn’t want or need me to do something big, He wants my heart surrendered and as I do this He will do amazing things for other people through me. There’s no promise it will be easy and there’s not guarantee I’ll be happy and secure. But I know that looking back on my life if I really live willing to give God anything in my life I will be content and know that I’ve lived a life honoring to Him.
