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Where do you find your source of empowerment?
We can find it in our identity, as a woman, wife, or mother. Maybe it's in characteristics of our personality, our ability to handle confrontation, or in the skills we have. Perhaps we feel empowered in our achievements, whether in the workplace or our homes.
According to the dictionary app, empower is defined as the act of granting someone the authority or power to do something, as if entrusting them with a sphere of influence.
Our culture tells us empowerment is something we give ourselves, an authority we pursue, influence we take from our own efforts.
In She Believed He Could, So She Did: Trading Culture's Lies For Christ-Centered Empowerment, Becky Beresford peels apart the layers of misplaced truth to bring us back to the heart of the gospel and the centrality of Christ in our lives as faithful followers.
Let's take a look at how she does that.
She Believed He Could, So She Did | Book Review
Content
My Take: What is Enough For Me?
Content
Purpose of the Book
In the pages of this book, you’ll find an invitation to press pause on the soundtrack of the world, where we’re told empowerment comes from ourselves, and listen instead to the strong, sure voice of God, where Christ is at the center and all-sufficient.
Table of Contents
Introduction
PART 1: She Believed HE Could . . . Trading Culture’s Lies for Christ-Centered Empowerment
Chapter 1: You Are Enough You’re Not Enough, and That’s the Good News
Chapter 2: You Can Do Hard Things You Can Do Hard Things the Easier Way
Chapter 3: You Be You You Be His
Chapter 4: Believe in Yourself Believe in Your God
Chapter 5: Speak Your Truth Share Your Story, but Speak THE Truth
Chapter 6: Follow Your Heart Follow Your King
Chapter 7: The Future Is Female The Future Is Found Together
PART 2: …So She Did. Living Out the Truths of the Gospel in Christ
Chapter 8: You Can Slay All Day
Chapter 9: We Are Women of the Way: Spreading the Gospel Like Jesus
Chapter 10: How to Put the Enemy in His Place (Part 1): Understanding the Enemy
Chapter 11: How to Put the Enemy in His Place (Part 2): Undoing the Enemy
Chapter 12: What to Do with Our God-Given Rights
Chapter 13: Cultivating Holy Courage in a Harsh World
Summary
Written with vulnerability and fervor, Becky shows us in Part 1 the striking contrast between the cultural messages we hear and truth found in Christ. Then, in Part 2 she walks through the practicalities of living a gospel centered life as women who follow our Lord and Savior.
From her years collecting Brave Women stories on her blog, each chapter ends with a short testimony of a woman who trusted God. There are also discussion questions for each chapter at the end of the book which make it helpful to discuss with friends, small groups or for your own personal reflection.
My Take: What is Enough For Me?
I’m not a car gal, though I grew up with a mechanic grandfather and farmer dad, so I know vehicle engines have different levels of horsepower, some stronger than others. This means some have the kind of get-up-and-go you’re almost afraid of.
My dad rebuilt a 1973 Camaro sometime after I graduated, and he connected in a nitrous oxide (NOS) cylinder to make it go really, really fast. One day, after I’d begged and begged, he took me out for a drive (without my mother knowing) because I wanted to feel what it was like and see how fast we could really go. When he hit the release, the chassis of the car kinda wobbled, the tires squealed, and we shot forward.
The world would have us believe we just need more grit and determination to succeed at whatever we want; to be strong and powerful means we will achieve our goals and we need only rely on ourselves.
Heard something like that before?
We feel the demand to catch up to what every other woman is doing, to be like her, to do everything she does, because her Instagram feed looks flawless—and isn’t that what we want too?
What Drives Our Ambition?
I think there’s a range when it comes to levels of ambition. God has created each of us unique and the gumption we possess to move toward something is distinct to us. It’s like the horsepower of a car engine, it’s measured as a result of how the engine is built, and it varies..
Not all of us have the zeal of Paul, yet he repeatedly depicts the perseverance of the Christian life as the striving of an athlete or the fortitude of a soldier. Scripture tells us to remain steadfast in trials (Jam.1:12), to not grow weary in doing good (Gal.6:9), and that we really need endurance to do the will of God (Heb.10:26).
But does he mean that we need to add a NOS cylinder to who we’re created to be? That we need to supplement what God has already given us?
See, here’s where empowerment goes to the wayside. Adding self-sufficiency will fail us. Our frame shakes, the cylinder eventually runs empty and we’ve not got much to show for it except the burst of speed and the weariness or burnout that follows.
Becky tells us, "It’s not about us or our power or our packed schedules. The world doesn’t need more weary women. It needs wise women who rely on God’s guidance and rest in His care. God’s grace is not meaningless when we give Him control of our daily decisions and trust in the foundational facts of the cross."
In our lives we may be driven and motivated. God has given us these desires and skills. Yet, notice that when Paul talks about pressing on, he’s not doing it in his own strength, nor for his own purposes:
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil.1:21).
His single minded focus on Christ provides both the strength and rest he needs to endure suffering and experience joy. He relies wholly on the grace of the gospel to sustain him through every circumstance.
So, as I find myself challenged by the question, “what’s enough for me?” I know the answer won’t be found in myself, but in my Creator.
Just as Becky reminds us, "I am not enough, but the Great I AM is enough for me."
My Recommendation
I desire my attitude about womanhood to be shaped by Scripture, not culture. Even as I raise my daughters, who will experience womanhood in their own way, and disciple them with the truths of Scripture, so they may be shaped by the love of Christ and the grace of the gospel.
So, if you’re a Christian woman pondering truth in the age of female empowerment and if you're discipling younger women, this is a gospel-centered resource to guide you.
Quick Stats
# of Pages: 224
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 4 stars
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Scriptures About the Sufficiency of Christ
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor. 12:9)
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Cor 9:8)
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph. 2:8-9)
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (Jn. 15:5)
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*A big thanks to Moody publishers for the complimentary copy of this book and for the opportunity to post an honest review