Fearless by Max Lucado

I was recently sent a copy of Max Lucado's Fearless to review. This is the first Max Lucado's book that I've ever read. I don't know what I was expecting ... but this book was a breath of fresh air (and amazingly practical! I love that in a book!). From the book's website:

Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.

They're talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison of unlocked doors. Wouldn't it be great to walk out?

Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, or doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day, where you could trust more and fear less.

Can you imagine your life without fear?

Lucado tackles many of that areas that can trap us with fear - our children, our financial security, our salvation - and one by one offers scripture after scripture to take to heart and remind us who really is in control. Some were verses that were very familiar to me, but others were ones that I had not yet discovered (or seen in this light). A couple favorites:

When praying for our children: "Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children." Lamentations 2:19

When overwhelmed by challenges: "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him'." Lamentations 3:21-24 (This verse was by my side constantly after my 2nd daughter was born ... taped even to the side of the bed so I could read it and think on it's words as I fell asleep at night).

In chapter one, I thought Mr. Lucado summed up the problem with fear so succinctly for me: Fear corrodes our confidence in God's goodness. (p.9) It's next to impossible to trust in someone or something when we are consumed by fear. And if that something is fallable, inconsistent, and of man, then it is guaranteed to fail us and let us down.

However. :)

God is righteous and deserving of our trust in Him, in the face of insurmountable fears. With great strength and amazing tenderness, He will care for us and walk with us through valleys of fear.

Behold, the Lord God with come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His recompense before Him.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs,

And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Isaiah 40:10-11