Cindy's Book Corner: Where is God In This?

Where Is God In This JustRead Blog Tour

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Where Is God in This? by Landra Young Hughes and Holly Crawshaw, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Where Is God in This?

Authors: Landra Young Hughes and Holly Crawshaw

Publisher: Baker Books

Release Date: October 18, 2022

Genre: Christian Living

MY REVIEW:

I think we have all asked ourselves at times, Where Is God In This? No stranger to heartache, Landra Hughes has asked God this question many times. In Where Is God In This?, Landra shows the reader how to look for God's goodness in the midst of our struggles.

See, I'm in the middle of what has to be the most soul-draining season of my life.

When reading Where Is God In This, I felt like I was sitting across from Landra and having a conversation. I felt her struggles, frustrations, and heartaches. Landra writes from a voice of experience and does not sugarcoat our struggles or try to might light of them.

Some of the most difficult tensions we encounter as Christians (and humans) involve the desire to control.

Sharing personal stories along with lessons learned along the way, we can all relate to Landra. She tackles common issues that we all struggle with. I found this book very relevant and highlighted many things. Where is God in This is another book that caused me to pause and think.

Surrender is an act of worship. It's a holy sacrifice.

Thank you to JustReads and the author for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

SYNOPSIS:

Life is unfair. Bad things happen to good people. Not all dreams come true. We lose people. We fail people. And when we encounter the inevitable struggles of life, we may be tempted to ask God Why me? as we try to reconcile our pain with God's promises. But a far more helpful and life-enriching question for us to ask God is What are you trying to teach me in this?

Tackling ten common struggles, such as isolation, fear, rejection, failure, insecurity, temptation, and more, Landra Young Hughes shows you how to have peace even when life doesn't make sense. Speaking with great empathy born from her own losses and years in ministry, Hughes doesn't suggest you "get over" your hard times. Instead, she helps you recognize that, while you will always live in a broken world this side of heaven, your pain has much to teach you about God and yourself. With her empathetic help, you'll discover how to grow through grief and thrive despite adversity.

EXCERPT (from Chapter 3: What a Girl Wants)

Y’all, I don’t even know where to begin. I feel like I need therapy over this. I think we can all agree on one point—The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are just not what they used to be. The happy ending isn’t there anymore. In fact, the happy ending isn’t even the point anymore. It’s all about the drama now. It’s all about the twist, the shocker, the cliff-hanger. But it’s all so painfully staged—scripted, almost.

It’s like going to a puppet show, right? You know there are puppet masters making the characters talk and walk, but they’re hidden. But when I watch an episode in the Bachelor franchise now, it’s like I can see the puppet strings and the hands of the producers dipping onto the screen, orchestrating bombshell after bombshell.

Obviously, I’m still going to watch. Let’s not get crazy—I still want to know what happens. But I won’t enjoy it. Much. It makes me sad because, back in the Sean and Catherine days, I thought the show was the best thing ever. Like, in the world.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then good for you. You’re probably a more disciplined person than I am, someone who makes wholesome entertainment choices. Trash TV? It’s my favorite vice. I want my nonsense show to go back to the way it was before—when it was about finding true love and connection. But I realize that I’m not going to get my way, not by a long shot.

Isn’t that how we’re wired as humans? To want what we want. We don’t think about it, but our desires control a big part of our lives. Do we want to work out? Do we want to go to church? Do we want to be social? Do we want to eat healthy? Do we want to ruin a perfectly good television show?

We’re driven by our want-tos. You might say, “Landra, I spend my entire day doing stuff I don’t want to do.” And on the surface, that might be true. But if you look deeper, you’ll see that our don’t-want-tos get overridden by a less obvious but more pressing want-to. Let me give you some examples. You don’t want to work out, but you want to be in shape. So you work out. You don’t want to go to church, but you want your kids to. So you go to church. You don’t want to be social, but you want friends. So you go out. You don’t want to eat healthy, but you want to fit into your clothes. So you eat a salad.

You don’t want to destroy the sanctity and tradition of a long-standing TV show that many people are emotionally invested in, but you want to make money. So you destroy it with artificial drama.

See? Our want-tos are a powerful driving force in our lives. But what happens when our want-tos are broken? When our want-tos are the opposite of God’s plan for us? We know it’s possible. Even Paul said, “I don’t do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don’t want to do” (Rom. 7:19).

That verse honestly makes me laugh a little. I’m like, “OK, postsalvation Paul. What’d you do that was so evil? Interrupt your three-hour morning prayer with a potty break?” I’m sure Paul’s threshold for “evil” was very different from yours and mine.

To keep our want-tos under control, there must be intentionality in how much power we give to our own desires. Our biggest want-to—the want-to that overrides all others—has to be finding peace with God’s want-to.

And that takes surrender.

What does it look like to surrender? Well, I wish it were as easy as giving in to sleep when you’re exhausted, but that’s not always the case. Surrender is to cease resistance, yield control, and give yourself up to the power of another. To surrender is to lay down what is most precious to you—your heart’s desire—and say to God, “It’s yours. If you give it back to me, I will praise you. If you don’t give it back to me, I will still praise you.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Landra Young Hughes

Landra Young Hughes is the daughter of prominent pastor Ed Young Jr. and Lisa Young of Fellowship Church. Because of her upbringing, Landra has developed a passion for seeing people maximize their God-given potential and embrace their God-defined self-worth. She and her husband, Brad, live in Dallas, Texas, where they serve on staff at Fellowship Church and raise their three children. Landra is coauthor with Holly Crawshaw of A Different Kind of Love Story.

Connect with Landra by visiting landrahughes.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

Holly Crawshaw is a writer and editor who believes everyone has a meaningful story to tell. Holly is passionate about partnering with authors to leverage their experiences to further God's kingdom and help God's people. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her three daughters.

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(10) winners will receive a paperback copy of the book and a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

Where is God in This? JustRead Giveaway

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight November 7, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on November 14, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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