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Elusive God: Learning to Walk by Faith and Not by Sight
Characters in the Bible make it look so easy. Moses experienced burning bushes and heard constant divine words guiding his path. If he needed to know what to do next, all he needed to do was follow a pillar of cloud by day or fire by night. I mean, who couldn’t know the will of God for their life with that kind of divine interaction?! For most of us, walking with God and knowing that we are doing and going precisely where God wants us to go isn’t that easy.This book is designed to free you from the guilt of “not knowing” precisely what God has in store for your future, recognize that our biblical heroes actually didn’t have it that easy, and help you to truly walk by faith and not by sight.
223 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 15, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 22, 2021
This is the book I wish I had read 30 or 40 years ago.
Like many of those in Rob Coyle's target audience for "Elusive God," I grew up in the evangelical Christian world, and I was told frequently that one reason for being on Earth was to discover (and follow!) God's will for my life. What career should I choose? I'll do whatever God picks for me. Should I marry, and whom? Certainly God knows the answer. Should I buy a new car? If I pray about it, God will tell me.
But I found out that things didn't work for me that way. They seemed to work that way for many people I knew, especially as I attended a church-sponsored college. My fellow students who married just after graduation from college (that was the thing back then, at least in the evangelical world) often reported that God chose a spouse for them. Others were grateful to God for calling them to the ministry and even to secular occupations. Seek God's will, seek God's will, I was often told.
But things didn't work that way for me. Now I'm old enough to have adult kids, and God still hasn't told me what my occupation should be. I understand where Coyle got the title for his book: For me, at least, asking God to tell me what to do never resulted in any lightning from heaven, and in most situations of life, dramatic revelations from God have eluded me. If God spoke at all, it was with the "still, small voice" referred to in the Elijah story of 1 Kings.
And that is the problem that Coyle dissects in this new book. My life has turned out far different than Coyle's (he's a Church of Christ minister in California), but I've come to the same conclusion that Coyle did: The Christian life isn't so much about discovering God's specific will for us so much as it is using the wisdom and other resources God has given is to make our own decisions. And what if we make a mistake? In Coyle's words: "[Our] God is so incredibly good that we can't possibly get it so wrong that He can't make it right." Also: "Know that there is a good God who will walk whichever path you take."
Coyle writes at a popular level, sharing personal anecdotes along with his understanding of Biblical stories and passages. He uses quite a bit of humor (check the footnotes); his style reminds somewhat of Pete Enns' books.
For me, the main value of the book is that it affirmed God's grace and goodness. God isn't Someone up there waiting to punish us if we make a mistake, but rather Someone who honors us and cares about us whether life takes good turns or bad ones. That's a message that just about every one of us could use.
(Disclaimer: I was given an advance copy of the book with the understanding that I would share my honest opinions about it.)
Like many of those in Rob Coyle's target audience for "Elusive God," I grew up in the evangelical Christian world, and I was told frequently that one reason for being on Earth was to discover (and follow!) God's will for my life. What career should I choose? I'll do whatever God picks for me. Should I marry, and whom? Certainly God knows the answer. Should I buy a new car? If I pray about it, God will tell me.
But I found out that things didn't work for me that way. They seemed to work that way for many people I knew, especially as I attended a church-sponsored college. My fellow students who married just after graduation from college (that was the thing back then, at least in the evangelical world) often reported that God chose a spouse for them. Others were grateful to God for calling them to the ministry and even to secular occupations. Seek God's will, seek God's will, I was often told.
But things didn't work that way for me. Now I'm old enough to have adult kids, and God still hasn't told me what my occupation should be. I understand where Coyle got the title for his book: For me, at least, asking God to tell me what to do never resulted in any lightning from heaven, and in most situations of life, dramatic revelations from God have eluded me. If God spoke at all, it was with the "still, small voice" referred to in the Elijah story of 1 Kings.
And that is the problem that Coyle dissects in this new book. My life has turned out far different than Coyle's (he's a Church of Christ minister in California), but I've come to the same conclusion that Coyle did: The Christian life isn't so much about discovering God's specific will for us so much as it is using the wisdom and other resources God has given is to make our own decisions. And what if we make a mistake? In Coyle's words: "[Our] God is so incredibly good that we can't possibly get it so wrong that He can't make it right." Also: "Know that there is a good God who will walk whichever path you take."
Coyle writes at a popular level, sharing personal anecdotes along with his understanding of Biblical stories and passages. He uses quite a bit of humor (check the footnotes); his style reminds somewhat of Pete Enns' books.
For me, the main value of the book is that it affirmed God's grace and goodness. God isn't Someone up there waiting to punish us if we make a mistake, but rather Someone who honors us and cares about us whether life takes good turns or bad ones. That's a message that just about every one of us could use.
(Disclaimer: I was given an advance copy of the book with the understanding that I would share my honest opinions about it.)
October 19, 2021
Thought-provoking!
Rob Coyle has a unique style in writing about serious things like faith, life-impacting decisions, and the will of God. I found this book to be practical, original, and worthy of further consideration, meditation, and study.
Anthony Lyons of Dodge City
Rob Coyle has a unique style in writing about serious things like faith, life-impacting decisions, and the will of God. I found this book to be practical, original, and worthy of further consideration, meditation, and study.
Anthony Lyons of Dodge City
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews