My daughter shared just the other day of our granddaughter having had a rough night getting to sleep due to fear of “ghosts”. She logically presented how she knew there was no such thing. Yet due to a video she had seen during the day, when she closed her eyes all she could see were ghosts.
Monsters are like that. We know they aren’t real, nor are they logical. Yet they haunt and fill us with emotions which will paralyze us if we don’t face them head on.
In his recent book, Befriending Your Monsters, Luke Norsworthy discusses facing our monsters and what they can represent. The book is broken down into three sections:
- Meeting Monsters. In this section, he explains where to go to find your monsters and what you will find when you get there. Our character is formed in the dark but because Jesus is the light, we have the hope that we never face the darkness alone.
- The Three Universal Monsters. Here you will find a discussion of three universal monsters – comparison, more, and success. No matter where we live, when we live, or our culture, our hearts really aren’t very different. Therefore, we harbor the same monsters.
- A Monster-Friendly Life. This last part brings the discussion of how to not live a monster-friendly life. To live a life by which we face our monsters will require intentionality. It will require us to face what is hidden and resides deep within our hearts.
Luke Norsworthy shares with an authenticity and a sense of humor which kept me interested to read. While, he doesn’t share anything that is new to us, he does share in a way to give us cause to stop and ponder a bit more, and we all need reminders now and again. He brings the book to a close with these words from his prayer:
“And most of all, may you trust that what you initially saw as monsters intended to destroy you were actually invitations used by your loving heavenly parent to save you.” (from page 228)
** I was provided a copy of this book by Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small percent at no additional cost to you.
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