A Woman God Can Use: Old Testament Women Help You Make Today's Choices

by Alice Mathews

Since the beginning of time women have faced challenges in making wise decisions and balancing priorities in life. A Woman God Can Use examines the lives of several women from the Old Testament—their struggles, their choices, and their relationship with God. Issues such as marriage, leadership, and suffering are addressed as each woman's story unfolds. Even in the culture of today's society, women face these same issues. A Woman God Can Use emphasizes the development of faith and courage as the driving force to help readers make choices in life that allow them to be used for God's glory.

Genres: Womens, Christian, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Old Testament, Christianity, Religion

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Viktoriaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting biblical devotional resource.

[Ricki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some good Biblical insights IF you can chew the meat and spit out the bones. Can't recommend to anyone due to its dangerous complementarian/patriarchal views that enable wife abuse.

I should have known what I was in for when I came across this line: "We see a close friend having to cope with a broken marriage, not because she has been a poor wife, but because her husband has succumbed to the charms of another woman" (p. 53). Wow, so a broken marriage is only ever a woman's fault, let's not assign any blame to a husband for having an affair.

But then I read the chapter about Abigail, subtitled "How to Live with a Difficult Husband." Mathews includes a long anecdote about a woman she met, whose husband had been beating her for all 13 years of their marriage. The wife finally got the courage to involve another couple they were friends with, who began informally counseling them and now the husband is beginning to improve and this "might save their marriage." Obviously this is problematic for many reasons:
-abusers usually don't change
-abusers usually react violently to confrontation
-the other couple are not professional counsellors, and in fact the Christian counsellor in the story failed the couple because they just told the wife to be submissive to her husband (so definitely don't try Christian counselling I guess is a moral of this story)
-even though this is the 2012 update of a 1990 book, there is no update to this story—was the marriage saved or not? Apparently that doesn't matter—it is enough that the marriage "might be saved." But possibly the husband ended up beating her to death, who knows??
-Mathews is not an expert on domestic abuse and should not be giving any advice about these issues at at all!

Obviously the chapter should have ended with something like, "God provided a way for Abigail to get out of her bad marriage, and if you're being beaten by your husband—if fact, if you and/or your kids are at all unsafe, INCLUDING from verbal, emotional, sexual, spiritual etc. abuse, you need to get out and protect yourself and your kids!" But no, it ends with "Work to make the best of a bad situation... Let God work in you and through you by his power to redeem a bad relationship." Wow wow wow.

[Teresa Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used to enhance a study of all women of the Bible. Stories and facts helped the class presentations.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does take a deeper dive into stories of women in the Old Testament that I wasn't super familiar with. Beyond that, it's a rather slow read, definitely not what I would consider a page turner. Overall though, I appreciated the author's extensive amount of Scripture and her strong voice when it comes to oppressed and abused women. The chapter on Abigail was probably the highlight of the book.

[M. La Fontaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

ENLIGHTENING

I am so awe inspired by the gift this author has to provoke the reader ti look deeper
I didn't want thisr book to end.
It is so moving
Brilliant work thank you for sharing GODS love with the world.

[Wystan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was not particularly impressed with this one. Pretty dated in its perspectives.

[Michelle Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made more for groups then individuals still not a bad read.

[North Beds Methodist Circuit Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book very helpful in looking at problems in mine and my friends lives. Good application of lessons we can learn from looking at the lives of women in the old testament as well as Mary.

[Janet]

I found this book at the thrift store and thought it would be interesting to read about some unknown (Rahab, Huldah) and well-known (Eve, Ruth, Esther) women from the Old Testament. Plus I need to get my act together. Some topics include: How to See Long-term Consequences in Little Decisions, How to Lead When Called by God to Do So, How to Live With a Difficult Husband, How to Cope When Times are Tough, How to Keep Your Priorities Straight, How to Use Your Spiritual Gifts Wisely (and more).

[Shanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had very helpful and enlightening information that can be used in everyday life. I appreciate the correlations between the books of the bible and everyday current life.

[Shellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Mathews has a wonderful way of making Scripture come alive. She brings up interesting perspectives on stories we've known for years and shows how they can apply to our lives today.