A Year of TRUST

I picked up Unshakeable Trust by Joyce Meyer because my word of the year is TRUST for 2022. I wanted a Biblical foundation to the word to get the year started well.

Bite-sized Ideas

I found that Joyce Meyer presented biblical ideas around the difficulties we have in trust in a bite-sized way that is approachable for everyone, from babes in Christ to the mature. The book outlines reasons we struggle to trust God and addresses those. I appreciated two sections most, ‘Trust God and Do Good’ and ‘Trusting God to Change People’.

Trust God and Do Good

‘Trust God and Do Good’ was especially uplifting for me, as I have frequently struggled with wanting to ‘do’ when so often we are told to ‘be still.’ It was encouraging to hear examples of things that she was called to do in response to specific prayer requests, a living-out of trust in God. ‘In chapter 5, she says ‘To do good means we do the good that God leads us to do, and we obey Him promptly in all that He reveals to us.’ So, this is by no means doing anything and everything we can to move our desires forward but a discernment to know what God wants for us and to move in that alone, or to be still, and all through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Trusting God to Change People

‘Trusting God to Change People’ was an excellent reminder that I may be the one who has to change! We all have difficult relationships or know ‘difficult’ people, but our prayers need to be about changing our hearts to approach them with mercy and understanding. This has been a lesson that I have had several times, so I guess I’m not the best student in it. But I really appreciated going the next step and sharing that she was the one who God needed to change, and that perspective is always the hardest.

Challenge to Trust

Joyce was candid in her own struggles with trust and yet shares them with humility and humor to encourage us all in our walk. Her challenge at the end of the book to fully hand over our lives and worries to God doesn’t leave any answer but embracing it.

4 Stars for Unshakeable Trust

I find that Meyer has a particular style of writing that is a bit repetitive. It made it difficult for me to read, and it was admittedly more like ‘plowing’ through the book as I wanted her to get to the point. Her writing is very encouraging, though the presentation felt a bit backward in that Bible verses seemed to support what she had to say about trust rather than being the basis of what she had to say.

If I were to rate the book, I’d give 4/5 stars as I struggled with the writing style and would like to have seen a chapter draw together the commonalities of what we can do to increase our trust in our struggles – I think a biblical outline of action when struggling to trust would be a stronger conclusion. All in all, it was a good starting point for my year of TRUST.