Max Lucado is one of my favorite authors of all time. I have read several of his books and am continually mesmerized by the way he brings life to his words. It is often hard to read "self improvement" books, but I think that Max Lucado makes these types of books influential because of the ways that he relates them to scripture.
Facing Your Giants is the book by Max Lucado that I have read most recently. Through the book, Lucado explains why it is important to change one's perspective away from fear and onto trust. He recounts the story of David and Goliath and shows the reader how David was not focused on defeating Goliath. David was focused on obeying God, above all. The book goes on to discuss how David grew older to become a complete and utter failure in many areas. He states that David was considered a man after God's own heart, but how could this be if David was such a rebel. He had a few good times in his life where he truly trusted that the Lord had his life under control, but other than that he was a murderer, a liar, a cheater, a rapist, a thief, and an all around sinner. Lucado does a great job at allowing the reader to understand how a Biblical character, favored in God's eyes, was still human.
It seems that a lot of people think that the Bible is a Holy book because of it's perfection. The characters must be perfect or else why would they be allowed in the "Good Book?" God did not design humans that way, though. If this were the case, there would have been no basis for God to send Jesus to die. Jesus would have come for nothing because we all would have been perfect. It was necessary to illustrate how imperfect people were still dearly loved by God and Lucado made the comparison of David and the rest of humanity today.
Facing Your Giants is a book all about being empowered by God against fear. The book begins discussing the fears of bills you can't pay, people you can't please, goals you can't accomplish..but he says that all of that is rubbish in God's eyes. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." The love the God pours out on us allows no room for fear. In the book, he states one thing that I will always carry with me. This comment is a remarkable one that continually makes me think. He says, "God doesn't ask for our successes. He asks for failures full of Jesus." What a gospel of hope. We were never meant to be perfect. We were meant to look toward the One who is.
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