WHEN YOU ARE DOWN TO NOTHING, GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING

Sunday, February 26, 2012

WHEN YOU ARE DOWN TO NOTHING,

GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING

Discovering Divine Purpose and Provision

When Life Hurts

By Robert A. Schuller

OVERVIEW: Schuller chronicles a particularly dark period in his life and shares with the reader what he learned God was up to in his relationships, meeting his needs like health and finances, providing guidance in his emotional life, but most of all, in learning to know and trust God more.

Everyone gets "down to nothing" at some point in life, whether in relationships, finances, vision and courage for the future, physical or emotional exhaustion, or disappointment with God―everybody runs out of something at some point in life. It's exactly at those points that God does His best work. When we're down to nothing, God is up to something―truths to teach us, answers to satisfy us, assurance to bolster us, resources to supply us, or directions to guide us.

AUTHOR: Robert Anthony Schuller (born October 7, 1954, in Blue Island, Illinois) is an American televangelist, author, and television executive. He was formerly a minister on the Hour of Power weekly television program broadcast from the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California, where he was named senior pastor in 2006.^[1][2] An ordained minister, he is the only son of Crystal Cathedral founder Robert H. Schuller and Arvella Schuller. He is the best-selling author of Possibility Living and Walking in Your Own Shoes. In September 2008, he was removed from the Hour of Power television broadcasts while retaining his position as senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral. According to the Hour of Power website, he resigned as senior pastor on November 29, 2008. Schuller is now chairman of Comstar Media Fund, a media investment company.

MY REVIEW: This is a book for when life hurts. For some of us―that's often. Others of us only hurt occasionally. But we all hurt some of the time. Speaking out of his own hurts, Schuller helps us discover divine purpose and provision when we are hurting. Every person has three kinds of relationships in life: with God, with others and with self. The book encourages us to see that God is always up to something in all three areas of life.

The book is divided into four parts: Relationships, Needs, Emotions, and Knowing and Trusting God. Schuller says that when he was down to nothing that all four parts were critical in realizing what God was up to:

     *Relationships: with God, with self, and with others.

     *Needs: "down to nothing" means we have serious needs.

     *Emotions: fear, disappointment, guilt, search for peace―a roller-coaster

     ride.

     *Knowing and trusting God: God is always there, always up to something.

This book will help us see how God works in our circumstances to prove Himself faithful regardless of why we find ourselves in need.

(This book was given to me for this review by FaithWords a division of Hachette Book Group)