What if, in this waiting, God is calling us to more?
It’s easy to believe God when a promise is new. It’s hard when the years pass and nothing changes. It’s even harder when desperation strikes, your plans backfire, and still God does not fill the emptiness. But what if, in this waiting, God is calling us to more?
Join author Marlo Schalesky on a unique, contemplative journey to reveal the wonder that is often missed when we find ourselves struggling to wait well. Walking through the life of the biblical character Sarah, one who knows what it means to wait, you will discover a glimpse of God’s character that will give you strength to keep hoping and praying for the desires of your heart.
Waiting for Wonder is a journey into the heart of God where you will wrestle with personal questions, think deeply about God’s true character, and learn to appreciate His divine work as you discover your own path to the promised land. Recapture your hope, restore your soul, and renew your vision of a wondrous Savior when you learn to live on God’s time.
Leader guide also available.
GENRE: Christian Nonfiction
PUBLISHER: Abingdon Press
RELEASE DATE: November 15, 2016
PAGES: 272
“He is the God of more than we prayed for, more than we hoped, more than we ever knew we needed.”
All of us are familiar with waiting rooms. Some of us quite literally are waiting for an end to waiting rooms. Others’ waiting rooms are more internal – spiritual, emotional, mental – than they are physical. Marlo Schalesky’s Waiting For Wonder takes us through the life of Sarah from the Old Testament. If anyone knew about waiting, she did. And like Sarah, we too “sit in our barrenness, in our blindness, in our shame. We may sit for a long time. But we do not sit without hope.”
Schalesky blends personal stories with grace-filled observations from Scripture, as well as creative vignettes that give us possible insight into Sarah’s perspective as she herself waited on God. The chapters cover topics such as being stuck in-between God’s promise and your present reality, living in a life that hasn’t gone as planned, becoming your worst you in the face of disappointment, becoming your TRUE you under God’s restoration, and much more. My favorite sections are the “Who is this God” sections that usually close out each chapter. Such great quotes to savor and apply to my heart.
“God is the God who knows that all our “if onlys” are empty wishes. And he reminds us that the promise is a person. It’s not a place. It’s not an answered prayer. It’s not having our lives look just the way we want them to look… It is him. Only him. Emmanuel, God-With-Us.”
This is a book I want to re-read, because there’s so much truth here that I know I’ve missed some of the great wisdom and encouragement the first time around. The words leap off the page and hit you right where you’re at, right in the center of your own waiting room, and they settle over your spirit like both a comforting quilt and a gentle conviction.
“God’s delight has always been the full, true, complete redemption of the things in our lives that we hate the most, the things that cause the deepest sorrow, the worst guilt, the most agonizing pain.”
Bottom Line: For everyone who is in a season of waiting, has been, or will be (so, basically … everyone), Waiting for Wonder by Marlo Schalesky will be a refreshing balm and a source of wisdom. Ever pointing us to our God who builds, who restores, who “loves us enough to make us wait longer to give us more”. It’s well written, engaging, and full of great truth and Scripture.
(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)
My Rating: 4 stars / Love it!
Marlo Schalesky is an award-winning author of ten books, including “Wrestling with Wonder: A Transformational Journey Through the Life of Mary.” A regular speaker and columnist, she has also published nearly 1,000 articles in various Christian magazines, including “Focus on the Family,” “Today’s Christian Woman,” “In Touch,” and “Marriage Partnership.” Marlo lives with her husband, six young children, nine horses, two dogs, five cats, two parakeets, ten rabbits, two chinchillas, three hamsters, and a bunch of fish in a log home in Salinas, California.
Other Books by Marlo Schalesky
Learn the true purpose of waiting on God and living on His timeline and enter to win Marlo’s giveaway.
One grand prize winner will receive:
- Two copies of Waiting for Wonder (one for you and one to give to a friend)
- A KEEP Collective watch set (with a band and watch)
Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on December 23. The winner will be announced December 27 on Marlo’s blog.
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