Book Review: Make Your Move by Lynn Cowell

When I picked up Make Your Move by Lynn Cowell, I thought my confidence was reasonable. Tucking in, I discovered so many new dimensions to Godly confidence and what walking in that confidence looks like in my daily actions. This confidence is built on the solid foundation of God’s love and allows us to step out in faith. Rooted in Biblical truths, Lynn takes the reader on a journey, discovering confidence principles within the lives of these women of scripture. She enlightens and encourages the reader each step of the way. Every chapter became my favourite as my perceptions shifted, my understanding deepened and my relationship with God grew.

Living out confidence is broken down each day into an action to try out along with prayers. Deciding to see confidence as a Godly thing, powered by Him is freeing and inspiring. I think my favourite principle is do it scared, waiting for it to feel easy is not going to work! I love the concept of loving each other and building one another up rather than comparison. Each time I read a bible study, I now think about the show of confidence each person exhibits. Lynn has a great sense of humor and adds fun to each chapter!

Lynn’s honesty and openness really allowed me to relate and the bible characters remind me of what I can do through God. Raheb, Deborah, the Daughters of Z, I carry each as a beacon of hope for those darker days. Make A Move highlights the elements in confidence I hadn’t previously noticed and I really enjoyed learning how to build it, one step at a time. While painting the bigger picture, Lynn highlighted the next thing I could do that day. She made increasing my confidence feel achievable. Regularly encouraging me to dig into the bible and think on verses drew me closer to God and improved my understanding of God’s word.

Favourite quotes include:

“Just because we feel afraid that doesn’t mean it’s not God. We may fear failure or looking like a fool. Often, the discomfort of doing something we have never done tries to lock us down before we even get started.”

“Lynn’s honesty and openness really allowed me to relate and the bible characters remind me of what I can do through God. Raheb, Deborah, the Daughters of Z, I carry each as a beacon of hope for those darker days. Intellectually, Make A Move highlighted the elements in confidence I hadn’t previously noticed and I really enjoyed learning how to build it, one step at a time. While painting the bigger picture, Lynn highlighted the next thing I could do that day. She made increasing my confidence feel achievable. Regularly encouraging me to dig into the bible and think on verses drew me closer to God and improved my understanding of God’s word.

“One of the Hebrew words for courage is ruah, which can mean, “breath of God” and can be used to describe God’s creative activity. Just as He did in Genesis 1, God is creating something out of nothing in you and me. In ourselves, we don’t possess confidence, courage or bravery. He is forming this fortitude where there has been a void; where it has never existed before. He is very good at making something out of nothing. Psalm 33:6-9 tells us “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” (NIV) According to Genesis 1 and Psalm 33:6-9, what does God use to create something out of nothing? From these verses, what can we learn about the power of words?”

“Maybe like me, you are blessed to have witnessed the courage of another, and it’s empowered you to be brave. We have to be careful not to grow comfortable or complacent when we’re in the middle of the chain but instead be empowered by the Holy Spirit to keep stretching; keep courage going. Where will you invest in another to keep that chain of courage going? Let’s display daring boldness and in turn, teach others to be courageous We can start by:

Praying for courage:

• Surrounding ourselves with others who are courageous.
• Reading stories of others who’ve been courageous in the Bible or in books.
• Take one small step to help bring change to the life of another”

“Maybe you would be willing to join me in an exercise I did when I read Jesus’ defense of Mary. I shut my eyes and pictured Jesus doing the same thing for me that He did for Mary. Coming to my rescue, He commanded “Leave her alone.” I’ve never done that before, but after I did, I had a very real sense: I don’t have to go back to that place in my past again. Painful encounters, whether they come from strangers, friends, or family, damage our confidence. Jesus wants to restore our ability to trust and believe in His protection.”

“Friend, this journey you and I are on together is a journey of endurance. It is a journey toward finishing well. Ending well requires us to every day, day after day, make the shift: dependence on me to dependence on You, Lord.”

It’s a five out of five for me on this one, I highly recommend purchasing the book! Lynn Cowell will be guest blogging tomorrow, here on moonglotexas.com so don’t miss out on hearing directly from her.