Half the Battle

The wind blew in fierce yesterday afternoon. It was sunshine and ninety degrees with a very large side of windy. It calmed in the evening and then hit again about nightfall in full, shrieking fierceness.

I’d left a couple of windows open in the kitchen. Before anyone had the presence of mind to close them, our kitchen counters, island, and floor were coated with a fine layering of grit and dust.

“What it must have been during the dirty thirties!” my daughter exclaimed this morning. Her bedroom floor received a gritty covering as well before she managed to close her bedroom windows with a tug and a bang.

“I would be even crazier than I already am,” I replied to my daughter. We’ve had successive days of unrelenting wind during my twenty+ years in Kansas. During such endless stretches of wind, I’ve always thought about the poor souls who endured the hardships of the thirties on the prairies filled with dust and dry storms. I really do believe I would have been among the numbers who quite literally went crazy.

Wind and dust aside, but thinking of challenges and struggles, I bring you a book review and giveaway today.

Our book is Half the Battle:Healing Your Hidden Hurts by Dr. Jon Chasteen.

I have to admit this year has unearthed some hurts in my life I was not too aware of. Thus, when an email showed up in my inbox asking if I had an interest in reading this book and sharing a giveaway, I was instantly drawn to the title.

I’m going to share a few excerpts. The first is found on page 60.

“By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.” ~  2 Peter 1:3

“So if we know that we have the right key, then why are we still stuck? Why aren’t we going anywhere? We’ve heard all the scriptures. We’ve heard all the Christian sayings and quotes. In fact, we know how to speak the language ourselves. We’ve sat through every sermon on every topic and can almost preach them ourselves before the preacher even gives the sermon title. Here’s what I think: we spend a large part of our lives trying to use the right key to open the wrong door. We put the key of Christ in our marriage, but before we know it, we’re distracted by our finances, so we put Him over there instead. Then sickness comes, and we put the key of Christ in that area. Now don’t get me wrong; Christ belongs in each of these areas. But what if the only thing you need to use the key of Christ for is to open the most important, most locked down door in your life – your heart?”

I’ve long loved learning about the names of God. {Though I do not remember them as I wish I would.}

Let’s contemplate these sentences from page 124 ~

“One of the many names for God in the Bible is Yaweh Shammah, and it means “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35). God is there in your situation. He’s there in your predicament. He’s there in your pain.”

Amen! Hallelujah! I need these reminders more than I care to admit. I think there’s part of me that believes a STRONG Christian never falters or wavers or doubts. Yet, that’s foolishness. We will not find this in the Bible. The stories and the heroes in Bible pages are real and their stories showcase mistakes right alongside victories.

The ability to do it all in our own strength negates our need for Jesus. And you know what? Much as I seek to avoid hurts, much as I dislike my failure and stumblings, I do not want to NOT need Jesus. I want His infusion in my life, in my heart, cultivating change in me every day of my life. It is not easy. It is so very hard some days when my patience is paper-wisp thin and pain levels hover high.

If you’d like to watch the book trailer, catch it here.

One more excerpt I really want to share and then on to entering the giveaway!

Page 138 reads, “Maybe you feel like the Israelites on their last march around Jericho. Exhausted. Worn Out. You’re on your last leg, your last hope, and your last pass. And you want to give up. Here’s what I would say to you: it’s the last pass that brings the walls down. Don’t quit circling your problem. Keep waiting. Keep worshipping.
Your worship will become the very thing God uses to defeat the enemy.”

That last sentence was a battle cry of encouragement to me. The call to keep crying out. To keep naming God’s faithfulness. To keep clinging. Carry my hurts, very visible, newly unearthed, or still partially hidden, and hand them to Him. The Great Physician.

If you’re battling hurts or if you could simply use a call to fresh encouragement in the battle of faith, do enter for a chance to win a copy of Half the Battle.

The book has a short Leader’s Guide for group use in the back, along with a Study Guide for each chapter.

Oh, here! Let me share the Chapter titles with you.

1. Before the Battle
2. The Stench Behind the Stone
3. Dealing With Rejection
4. The Final Resting Place of Pain
5. Time to Take Ground
6. The Weapon For War

The fourth chapter really spoke to me at this time in my life.

Here’s the thing; we’re all human. I think most anyone will resonate with the theme of this book. We are not all that dissimilar when it comes to hardships, struggles, pain, and hurt. We can’t live for many days on this earth without facing something.

I am praying for each person who reads this post and for each one who enters the giveaway. I am praying for this book to show up at exactly the right time for each person who needs the encouragement of its message. I am praying for the giveaway winner.

May your day and week be filled with healing and hope, ADG comrades!

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