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Restless: Because You Were Made for More

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Do you feel like you're missing something?

What if this feeling wasn't a bad thing? It could be a longing for more of God and a catalyst to living the life that was designed before the foundations of the earth were laid.

A lot of us, if we're honest, are afraid. We hold our dreams close to our chest. But our passions have a purpose—they were engineered for God's greater plan and he intends for us to use them for his glory and purposes.

In Restless, Bible teacher and fellow struggler Jennie Allen explores practical ways to identify the threads of your life and how to intentionally weave them together. She explains how your gifts, passions, places, and relationships aren't random; they're deliberate and meaningful. And your suffering—it's possible it has produced the very thing you want to give back to the world.

Using the story of Joseph, the dreamer, Jennie explains how his suffering, gifts, relationships—all of the threads of his life—fit into the greater story of God and how our stories can do the same. What would happen if God got bigger than your fear and insecurity, and you spent the rest of your life running without reservation after his purposes for you? You were created for more.

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 7, 2014

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6959 people want to read

About the author

Jennie Allen

103 books2,454 followers
Jennie Allen, Bible teacher, author, and the visionary behind IF:Gathering and Gather25, a 25-hour global prayer gathering. Driven by a deep love for God and an unyielding belief in the potential of this generation, Jennie's mission is to disciple a generation of Jesus followers to live what they believe.

Through her writing and teaching, Jennie seeks to convey a simple yet profound truth: God sees you, loves you, and invites you to play your part in His unfolding story. She has witnessed firsthand the miraculous work of Jesus when people fully surrender to Him.

Jennie is a passionate leader following God's call on her life to catalyze a generation to live what they believe. Jennie is the New York Times' best-selling author of Untangle Your Emotions, Find Your People and Get Out of Your Head. Jennie has a masters in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary and lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Zac, and their four children.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
Profile Image for Sheri.
1,415 reviews132 followers
April 6, 2026
Much like the title, I found this to be restless, with a broad point sort of circling around, that never really fully came in for a landing. I liked Jennie Allen's ideas, but found them to be lacking in direction and depth.

The intent of the book is to have each reader reflect upon how they might serve God and minister to others through their individual gifts, talents, passions, and skills; that is God's purpose for each of us. I liked that these contribution words were used interchangeably as it led me to think about what I have to offer from different perspectives. Additionally, I appreciated the many ways she mentions that one can be working for God. Ministering to others doesn't have to be some grand gesture like becoming a missionary in a faraway land; it can be about sharing your gift for being a good listener, your talent for singing, your passion for baking, or your skill in financial literacy. We should all use our gifts even if we're not in a professional ministerial setting. It can be, should be, and is the everyday tasks and occasions of our lives that allow us to serve and share.

The advice is to find your fulfillment and don't sit on your gifts, use them. Scrutinize your motives often, be humble, fight to get over yourself and to please other people, do things not for the applause of others but for God's purpose. These ideas make me think of sharing freely with genuine joy and kindness which absolutely should be the intent.

"How do you know if a vision is from God? At some point you look at the motives of your heart, and if they are for God then just do it. It was simple and difficult all at the same time." Yes, it is simple and difficult all at the same time and I wish she had expounded upon this idea more, and this one too: Tim Keller defines meaningful work as "taking the raw materials we are given and assembling them in a way that causes other people to flourish."

For a book about finding your purpose, I expected something more purposeful and not so disconnected. The ideas gleaned were meaningful but slight, offering food for thought on the reader's part, but these ideas could have been shared in a much, much shorter format. I would have enjoyed this as a conversation over coffee that then naturally evolved into related topics, but as a book this didn't serve me well.
Profile Image for katie.
801 reviews9 followers
May 9, 2014
I appreciate a book written on the topic of calling, and I like that this one invites introspection and self-evaluation, but unfortunately Restless belongs to the growing population of Christian-chick-self-help books: not well-written, loosely focused on Scripture, and theologically watered down. Perhaps I'm not the intended audience for this book. I wanted more protein and less fluff. Also, having led a group of women studying this book, I should add that the structure of the book is awkward, in that there's a lot of chapters of introduction before she gets to the real meat of things. There seems to be this emergence of regular gals penning books of spiritual encouragement, which is a good thing, but I would prefer books on these topics (spiritual direction, motherhood, etc.) from the hands of writers with real craftsmanship and art.
Profile Image for Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library).
4,914 reviews87 followers
September 5, 2018
DISCLAIMER: I didn't know this book was intended for women until after I started reading it; I thought it was just a regular Christian devotional book.

Now, for my review: This volume had some excellent thoughts that I will start applying to my daily life; like she says, I've been feeling restless for quite a while, and had a lingering feeling like I could be doing more...so, now, I will!
Profile Image for Karen Deblieck.
48 reviews1 follower
January 8, 2014
A beautifully written book that calls all women to serve their God fully. Jennie's rich and candid prose makes it feel as if you are having a conversation with an old friend over coffee. And when she spoke of the look of longing she saw in other women's eyes I recognized her words to be true. I would recommend this to my girlfriends. Useful for those who have had any major life challenges or who are just "getting through their days". Although I didn't agree theologically with the entirity of it I found it a challenging read and the exercises very useful. An excellent book for the start of a new year that will greatly impact how I live for God!
Profile Image for Catherine Gillespie.
763 reviews46 followers
September 8, 2015
Jennie Allen’s interactive book (not a Biblestudy–I’m not sure why it’s billed that way) Restless: Because You Were Made for More has some helpful points about considering whether your vague restless feeling is God calling you to a bigger purpose and seeking Him more deeply.

I appreciated that Allen led off with an admission that our culture, even church culture, encourages an often obsessive amount of self-focus. She is up front about how a lot of times we just need to get over ourselves and get started obeying God’s word.

The majority of the book then walks the reader through how the various threads of your life may point to God’s purpose for you. This may be helpful for some readers, but to be honest I thought it was a little too surface in some areas and a little too opaque in others.

It’s not that the book wasn’t worthwhile at all–I did get some good reminders and insights–but overall it felt a little light to me. If you’re really interested in digging into this sort of thing, I’d recommend Lara Casey’s book Make It Happen instead.

This review was originally posted on A Spirited Mind.
Profile Image for Debbie Dodson.
9 reviews2 followers
March 13, 2014
Cannot even say how much I loved this book -- the theme, the encouragement, the challenges, the dares, etc. What's it about? From the back of the book, it "explores practical ways to identify the threads of your life and how to intentionally weave them together." This book guides you in ways to do that in such a practical, encouraging, and challenging ways.

And I loved the author's writing style. Listen to just this sentence, "Some of us have decorated our prison walls so beautifully that we have altogether forgotten we are sitting in a cell, wasting our lives." Beautiful. And tragically true.

The author, a Bible teacher and fellow struggler, offers concrete ways to begin to lay it all out there--your dreams, your passions, your gifts, your talents, you personality--and see what threads are pointing you to your God-calling. Again, beautiful. And so and beautifully and authentically done.
Profile Image for Kamil.
17 reviews1 follower
November 14, 2017
The general message was good but I felt like some of it was problematic. As a black woman, I was bothered by the author's need to keep mentioning Africa as if it was a country and also as if it was at times, something bad.
Profile Image for Sharon Slater.
318 reviews3 followers
January 2, 2023
This book was supposed to “help me find a practical plan” to put my life together for God’s purpose and glory. That’s what the description said and what the book insists on at the very beginning.

It didn’t.

There are some good quotes here and there, and I can appreciate that Jennie Allen’s stories are heartfelt and personal. However, this book simply wasn’t useful to me. It felt generic and nonspecific, which isn’t what I was looking for when I picked up a “find your purpose” book.

I love God and I am so thankful for Jennie’s ministry. I have read other of her books and greatly enjoyed them, but this one I sadly didn’t.
Profile Image for Amanda Cain.
77 reviews
February 18, 2014
The very same day that I picked up a copy of Jennie Allen’s Anything on the bargain rack at my local Christian bookstore, I had the opportunity to review her new book Restless. And while I have not yet read Anything, I found myself unable to put down Restless.

A book about dreams, calling, purpose, and bringing Glory to God, Restless touched my soul and gave me wings.

Through sharing her own personal life experiences, the stories of some of the people closest to her, and the Biblical account of the life of Joseph, Jennie encourages readers to take off the masks, face their fears, and embrace who God created us to be.

Using the analogy of “threads”, Restless helps you through the journey of identifying your own gifts and passions, and how the darkest, most painful moments of our lives are often the moments God uses to shape us most.

There is no randomness in the Christian life. God works everything to the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), always. Even when it hurts, even when we can’t understand why, God is there, creating something beautiful, for our good, and His Glory.

Overall, I found Restless to be a Biblically-sound and enriching book, that encouraged me to run whole-heartedly after God. I would give the book an “A”.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 .
Profile Image for Kari.
350 reviews1 follower
September 21, 2023
Jennie Allen really hits 5 stars with her books 👏🏻

Overview:
A practical plan to identify the threads of your life and intentionally weave them together for God's glory and purposes. Using the story of Joseph, Jennie Allen explains how his suffering, gifts, story, and relationships fit into the greater story of God, as well as how our stories can do the same. Reading this book helps you discover how your gifts, passions, places, and relationships aren’t random. They’re deliberate and meaningful. When it comes to your suffering, it’s possible it has produced the very thing you want to give back to the world!

Things that hit home:
- What you’re doing isn’t unimportant. You just don’t believe in it’s importance.
- Pray for surrender.
- No matter what you’re called to do, do it unto the Lord.
- Take the raw materials you’re given and use them to help others flourish.
- It’s better to be unsettled for a minute and sure you’re in the will of God than to be content in the wrong place.
- Sometimes we think we’re suffering because God is cruel. Maybe it’s because we don’t have the perspective He does.
- We know God most deeply during suffering because it’s when we’re closest to Him.
- God wrote suffering into our stories to redeem it for His glory.
- Fear might make us miss the best parts of life.
- What we don’t know yet is meant to lead us to dependence on God.
- Great people don’t do great things. Our great God does great things with surrendered people.
Profile Image for Megan.
112 reviews46 followers
July 25, 2014
I liked this book. However, I wish it gave more practical advice with what to do when you feel restless. Of course, I am someone who needs a plan. Usually that is not how God's works. He doesn't usually tell you everything that is going happen and he often gives us choices. I did love how this book discussed that what we do each and every day can be fulfilling and used to served Jesus.
Profile Image for Rachel Acalinei.
69 reviews8 followers
October 11, 2021
Another great witty, honest, challenging book/bible study!
If you are wondering what your purpose on earth is, why you are living where you are or have to deal with the people you do, this book is for you. If you are in need of affirmation that your mission field IS where you are called, this book is for you. If you are simply searching for the tools on how to seek deeper relationship with God or people, this book is for you.
Allen challenges her readers to ask the question, "what happens now that I've surrendered?"

What I love most about this book is the way that each chapter allows room for the reader to think and meditate, processing their personal journey of why God has placed them on the path they are on. Allen talks about celebrating the things that bring us joy, and helps us realize that God finds joy in our talents. There is also a great parallel from the story of Joseph to our own.
All in all, great book and writing style! Excited to read her other books!
Profile Image for Caitlyn.
51 reviews1 follower
December 13, 2025
She is quite possibly my favorite author—I took so many notes on this one! Her use of Scripture throughout the book, woven alongside her personal stories, was immaculate. It is so encouraging to hear a word and know that it is backed by THE WORD!

I also loved how she used the analogy of running so frequently alongside following God. “Figure out what it means to run after God!” —Jennie Allen. Her reminder throughout the book about the importance of surrender taught me so much: 1) Until there is surrender, there is no vision. 2) Great people do not do great things…God does great things through SURRENDERED people!!!!
3) When surrendered, we can help the world around us—know Scripture, know ourselves, and know those around us.

My one-liner from the book: Dream on, and surrender to the Almighty King and Loving Father!
Profile Image for Gabby Salisbury.
27 reviews
January 8, 2025
Quite a few months later, I finally finished the book. I was procrastinating reading this because I knew I needed to hear the wisdom included and find it funny how God knows exactly what you need to hear in each season. I wish I would've stopped procrastinating and read it sooner.
If anyone is struggling with depicting their calling or have fear relating to their purpose, this book is the one for you.

Throwing off all weight that entangles you (Hebrews 12:1), and running with full obedience the race that God has laid out for us. Day by day. Step by step.
Profile Image for Shannon Herzog.
12 reviews1 follower
August 7, 2024
Inspiring writing-style but somewhat watered-down without a lot of application/Scripture. Some good discussion questions about living strategically within God’s mission (perhaps good for newer believers) - but for deeper reading on topics of personal/career discernment I’d recommend other books like ‘Discerning Your Call to Ministry’ / ‘Every Good Endeavor’ / ‘Called to Cultivate’ (women & work).
Profile Image for Allie.
124 reviews
July 21, 2022
For those who love Jesus but are struggling to figure out what He is “calling” you to do, read this! Jennie Allen does a great job of easily and descriptively telling you how to lay down your life before your eyes and examine how all the things, big and small, can point to where God wants you to be !
148 reviews19 followers
August 1, 2023
I benefitted from this book and its encouragement to think through where God has placed us and what passions he's given us. I did think it was overly focused on *us* as opposed to God — it would have been richer with more Scripture and more discussion of the gospel and God's character.
Profile Image for Mechelle.
81 reviews
April 2, 2024
Listened to this one but immediately ordered a paper copy because there is so much to highlight, journal and reflect on from this book. So much in the words that hits exactly where I am in life. Restless.
Profile Image for Lacie Simpson.
200 reviews1 follower
April 24, 2026
read this book with a notebook in hand & lived every second of it. as someone who feels like i have a decent grasp on my calling, i still think this book was helpful. there’s always next steps God has for us and we need to stay aware of that

3 stars because i think a lot of books like this are reminders to us of where to keep our eyes at, but not necessarily new information to us. not particularly a bad thing, it means we know our Bibles, but i can’t bring myself to rate it higher.
Profile Image for Sarah.
223 reviews3 followers
June 4, 2020
I love Jennie Allen's writing and her heart for the Lord. I feel refreshed and challenged after reading her books or hearing her speak, as if she were my personal mentor.
Profile Image for Ben.
2,743 reviews232 followers
January 1, 2021
Great book to end 2020.

Really appreciate Jennie's writing. Will definitely check out more of her books.

Excellent message in this book.

4.1/5
Profile Image for Alison Dunn.
12 reviews1 follower
June 19, 2023
Read this a few years back and didn’t quite appreciate it at the time. Picked it up again recently and was amazed by the truths it held and the way God truly works through our ordinary places, people and hurts of our unique lives for His glory and our joy. High key recommend if you’re feeling stuck or confused by a current season of life. Fave quote “Out of our hurt, we will heal our world.”
Profile Image for Rhegan.
248 reviews4 followers
January 31, 2019
Jennie Allen is a powerful writer and speaker. Easy read with journaling prompts if you want to dig deep
Profile Image for Clara Nagy.
1 review
May 18, 2023
A lot of great wisdom in here. I definitely underlined a lot! Perfect for whoever is still exploring their life purpose (aka everyone!)
Profile Image for Kendra.
203 reviews
May 31, 2014
This book lives on the shelf with Helpful Gamechanging spiritual reads. I can't think of the last book that was *this* practical and inspiring. My middle name is Restless, so the theme especially spoke to me. I participated in the online chats with Jennie Allen and Jamie Ivey which drove home how needed this message of encouraging women to live in the fullness of their Christ-given callings is. The text itself is well-written but very simple. I gave this book 5 stars because of the reader response portion of the book. It offers such great context and utility to the lessons in this book and I literally marked up just about every page. The response sections are not like dorky workbook. Think: small opportunities to write down thoughts, ideas in a way that feels purposeful and ignites action. I would recommend this book to any woman who is trying to discern her spiritual gifts and how to use them.
73 reviews
October 12, 2015
Restless is the perfect adjective for how I've been feeling this year. I loved this book. It gave me just the nudge I needed to find direction and take 20 seconds of courage and do something. At one point she says maybe I need to quit worrying about my motivations and just use the gifts I've been given...so applicable to where I was. I'm not sure how this would work as a group study, but for a personal study that I took my time getting through, it was amazing. I'd encourage you to really do the journaling and ask yourself the questions. I learned so much about myself in the process.
Profile Image for Lindsey.
Author 3 books104 followers
February 1, 2016
Through scripture and journaling, Jennie Allen invites you to untangle the threads of your life and discover God's purpose for you.

This is the book you pick up when you feel--as the title suggests--restless. For me, personally, my call feels insignificant in the face of mission fields and church plants, so these words were timely and the soul-searching got me asking lots of questions and helped me discover themes and passions I didn't realize I had.
Profile Image for Kimberly Olson Sutor.
52 reviews7 followers
September 1, 2019
I owned this book nearly a year before I read it. All in God's timing, right? But the minute I began, it was a game-changer. I had been "sitting in God's waiting room" for over a year. This book helped me literally map-out where He was leading me, and what my new ministry would be.

If you're looking for direction.....read - and pray through - this book. God will speak when it's time. Maybe this is your time! :)
Profile Image for Pam.
183 reviews10 followers
May 6, 2015
The first third or so, I didn't quite understand. Plus, I cheated cos I just wanted to read & not do the journal assignments. By the end, I was with her, so I'll read it again, slow, do the assignments, & MAYBE the last one where you show it all to a dear one & let that person tell you what she sees.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews