What do you do when God seems to have vanished?

When you have a decision to make…

When your stability is shaken…

When your sure-fire plan fails…

When everything is spinning out of control…

Esther is the perfect partner for seeing our invisible God in uncertainty. Though she lived centuries ago, Esther speaks to us when we run into limited control and resources. We find in her a strength and fortitude you and I need today. A strength we discover as we follow her process of listen, feel, do, and speak. We’ll see that Esther carved a pathway, not only with faith but with influence, for all women who find themselves walking through uncertainty.

Share this article or podcast on Social media, tag Patricia Holbrook, and enter for a chance to win a copy of the book.

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I interviewed my friend Amy Carroll and her co-writer Lynn Cowell about their newly released bible study Esther – Seeing our Invisible God in an Uncertain World. During the interview, we discussed controversies concerning the book of Esther and how this important historical book of the Old Testament offers guidance to those facing uncertainties.

This six-week, in-depth study is a gritty dive into a woman’s story that teaches the reader to:

• Listen to wise people who fill out gaps of understanding.
• Embrace your feelings as a catalyst for Go-directed action.
• Do the work God assigns you even when in doubt.
• Speak up with confidence, knowing that God has a place for your voice in His story

Share this article or podcast below on Social media, tag Patricia Holbrook, and enter for a chance to win a copy of the book.

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Click on the graphic below to listen to Patricia’s interview with Amy and Lynn on the God-Sized stories podcast.

Click Below to watch the interview on Patricia’s YouTube channel:

The post What Do You Do When God Seems to Have Vanished? (Esther Bible Study) appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

Out of Control and Loving it

“It’s a good day when the water on the bathroom floor isn’t higher than the top of your sandals,” quipped my friend Cathy as our women’s conference in India drew to a close.

Now that’s a new measure of a good day!

India is overload for American senses. Your eye fills with the bright colors of saris, strings of marigolds for a festival, and stacks of fruit being sold in a roadside stand. In your peripheral vision, cars whiz by laced with motorcycles carrying whole families, and you think you might have just seen a bull in the midst of the traffic’s snarl.

The food is an explosion of ten thousand tastes in every bite. Unknown flying objects and pollution make the air a tactile experience, and my friend says that India is “an amusement park for the nose.” It’s the smell of spices, piles of trash, millions of bodies, and the fragrance of flowers.

India feels like chaos to this ordered American girl.

And I love it.

Part of my heart resides in Kolkata, but it seems hard to figure out why. I don’t speak the language, so sometimes communicating is difficult. There’s a different measure of cleanliness which presents significant challenges at times. The ways of people there—from eating to shopping to potties– are diametrically opposed to my own so that the culture shock is more like a sizzling bolt from the sky than a mild zap from a socket.

So why do I love India so much?

I love the wildness of India. It teams with life in every inch, and it keeps me off kilter. India communicates the exotic, extreme Life of God to me. As CS Lewis said of his character Aslan, a lion who is the symbol of God in the Narnia stories, “He’s not a tame lion. But he’s good.”

Somehow in America, I slide back into my own view of perfection—a room perfectly straightened, mess-free relationships, a god who behaves the way I like and with the timing I approve. In India, all my cultural crutches are removed. I seek God in every move, and I see Him everywhere.

It’s in the midst of unpredictability that I sense the presence of God most acutely and when I feel the most alive. Yet I’ve been reluctant to give up control. From the time I was a little girl, I tried to shape myself and my environment to please others and earn love. It’s a mistake to try to live this way, though.

God crafted us to reflect His image, not to create our own.

Trying to shape our own image into what we consider perfect gives us less life instead of more. Perfection might make us feel more comfortable, but then we miss out on the majestic wildness of following our untamed but wholly good God. 

Let’s break up with our idea of perfection and walk into the foreign land of trusting God fully as He shapes the perfect path for us filled with His Life.

Today we’re giving away a copy of Amy’s Carroll’s newly released book Breaking Up with Perfect. Leave a comment to enter, or if you’re living life at warp speed today, simply say “I’m breaking up with perfect!” in the comments.

The post Guest Post by Amy Carroll – “Out of Control And Loving It!” appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.