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Running in Circles: How False Spirituality Traps Us in Unhealthy Relationships
Are you stuck in a hamster wheel? Hamster-wheel relationships keep us running in circles . . . and going nowhere. An alcoholic spouse. An emotionally abusive parent. A child that gambles. These are the kinds of relationships that can trap us in cycles of dysfunctional behavior. Sometimes our beliefs about God are part of what keeps us stuck. There are times that God calls us to suffer. And there are times that God calls us to set aside our fears and idolatry so that we can follow him alone. This book is about God's invitations to you right in the midst of your difficult relationship. God invites you to find freedom in security in him. Are you in a situation that feels hopeless and unchangeable? Kim Engelmann has been there in her own life. Through God's love, she found her way out. In this book she draws on her own experiences as well as the experiences of others she has counseled as a pastor. This book can help you find hope again. Are you ready to get off the wheel?
136 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 29, 2020
This is an interesting good book on ‘how to’ breaks the bondage of running in circles daily on a hamster wheel and move onto the potter’s wheel. The author relates how false spirituality can traps the unknowing in unhealthy relationships. Sometimes our beliefs about God are part of what keeps us stuck. So much of the secret of life is learning to get off the hamster wheel of fruitless suffering while remaining on the Potter’s wheel
July 20, 2019
It's my second time reading this book and it's very empowering when it comes to spiritual health. And probably I will read it again for a third time just to remind myself about life and God.
January 27, 2013
As far as self-help books go, this wasn't bad and in fact I was able to take away some unexpected helpful advice.
The author's premise is that there are two wheels in life, hamster wheels & a potter's wheel. The hamster wheel spins round and round without actually going anywhere or doing anything, and when we find ourselves in this posture we become driven not rested, looking down and not up.
In contrast is the potter's wheel which spins round and round too but the difference is our posture and the outcome achieved. In this condition we are lying down, resting and gazing upward toward the Potter who is all the while molding & remaking us into something beautiful for His glory.
The author posits that often times what keeps us on the hamster wheel of life are unhealthy circumstances and unhealthy beliefs. We can't always change the former, to be sure, but the latter we can and should change by the Potter's gracious hand reaching down - a gracious intrusion as Engelmann calls this.
I appreciated Engelmann's reference to grace and gospel-centered living, albeit in the final two chapters she points her readers to the spiritual disciplines which to me smacks of self-righteous living in contrast to the graceful living offered in the potter's wheel analogy.
Be that as it may, I'd still recommend this book, especially for those who do feel trapped in circumstances or beliefs that are contrary to God's design.
The author's premise is that there are two wheels in life, hamster wheels & a potter's wheel. The hamster wheel spins round and round without actually going anywhere or doing anything, and when we find ourselves in this posture we become driven not rested, looking down and not up.
In contrast is the potter's wheel which spins round and round too but the difference is our posture and the outcome achieved. In this condition we are lying down, resting and gazing upward toward the Potter who is all the while molding & remaking us into something beautiful for His glory.
The author posits that often times what keeps us on the hamster wheel of life are unhealthy circumstances and unhealthy beliefs. We can't always change the former, to be sure, but the latter we can and should change by the Potter's gracious hand reaching down - a gracious intrusion as Engelmann calls this.
I appreciated Engelmann's reference to grace and gospel-centered living, albeit in the final two chapters she points her readers to the spiritual disciplines which to me smacks of self-righteous living in contrast to the graceful living offered in the potter's wheel analogy.
Be that as it may, I'd still recommend this book, especially for those who do feel trapped in circumstances or beliefs that are contrary to God's design.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews