Wounded By God's People Book Review

/ / Wounded By God's People / /

{Review By Madi}

Title: Wounded By God's People

Author: Anne Graham Lotz

Source: Review Book From Booksneeze

Number Of Pages: 237

ISBN: 978-0-310-26289-3

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: 2013

Madi's Rating: 5 Out Of 5 Stars

 

/ / Book Description / /

Tucked into Abraham's biography is the story of Hagar, a young Egyptian slave with whom Abraham had a son named Ishmael. Hagar stood out because she was wounded---not physically, but in ways that were as emotionally and spiritually painful as any injury to a body would be. Some wounds were provoked by her own bad behavior, but others were inflicted by those who considered themselves God's people. Anne Graham Lotz too has been wounded by God's people. Some wounds have been deeper than others, some have come out of nowhere, and still others have been provoked by her own behavior, but all of the wounds have been deeply painful. They seemed to hurt even more when the wounders wrapped their behavior in a semblance of religion or piety. As Hagar's story unfolds, you will discover that wounded people often become wounders themselves. While Anne identifies with the wounded, the unpleasant reality is that she also identifies with the wounders, because she has been one, too. She knows from experience that wounding is a cycle that needs to be broken. And by God's grace, it can be. Many have had similar experiences. And perhaps you are among those who have been so deeply hurt that you have confused God's imperfect people with God. Maybe you have even run away from God as a result. Or perhaps you have been a wounder to the extent that you are living in a self-imposed exile, believing you are unworthy to be restored to a warm, loving relationship with God or with God's people. Whatever your hurts may be, Wounded by God's People helps you to begin a healing journey---one that enables you to reclaim the joy of God's presence and all the blessings God has for you. God loves the wounded. And the wounders.

 

/ / Madi's Book Review / /

When I heard about this book's upcoming release, I was totally stoked. I grew up listening to sermons by Billy Graham and reading his books (I even did a report on him in middle school), and I was sure that a book written by his daughter would be a great find. Anne (Graham) Lotz did very good job in writing this book, and I can't wait to share my thoughts on it with you.

 

The first thing that I noticed about this book, before I even started reading it, was it's beautiful cover. I mean, look at it! It's so pretty! Thumbs up to whoever designed it. And the inside is just as beautiful as the outside. By breaking down an age old tale from the Bible and incorporating her own experiences Anne creates an encouraging view on how God's people represent him. The main idea of this book was to show that you may have been cast out or hurt by God's people, but not by God. So many people confuse God's actions with those of the people who call themselves by His name. Through taking time to examine the story of Hagar (the slave girl that belonged to Abraham's wife, Sarah) and her transformation from Egyptian slave to the wife of the most prosperous man of his time, to a nobody again I got a new view on what it meant to be wounded by God's people. God started the covenant of Israel through Abraham. Hagar watched him build alter after alter for the Lord, and yet he wounded her. His wife wounded her. He gave her over to Sarah's cruelty. He sent her and their son out of his home. He WOUNDED her. And he was the one that God used to start a nation. How do you deal with a rejection like that?

 

Not only did the author touch on being wounded, she talked about wounding others. When we're weak and hurting, we want to mistreat those who brought us this pain. We want to avenge ourselves. When we allow that to happen we become no better than the person that first hurt us, and we turn wounding into a never ending circle of pain. This book gives us a few ideas of way to get over the pain and trust that God will work it all out in the end.

 

Note: I was provided a free copy of this book by Booksneeze. All rights go to the author and publisher. I was not required to give this book a good review if I found it unworthy and all thoughts expressed in this post are my own and completely unbiased.