The End of Me by Kyle Idleman

If you feel you are at the end of yourself, Idleman says that's a good place to be. That is when Jesus becomes real in your life.

His book is divided into two parts. In the first part, he explores how we come to the end of ourselves. The rest of the book is about putting ourselves into the best position to be used by God.

Idleman looks at four beatitudes that put us on the path to real life. He writes about brokenness – the way to wholeness, mourning – the way to happiness, humbleness – the way to being exalted, and authenticity – the way to being accepted.

Then he shows how Jesus fills us when we are empty. He uses stories from the Bible to illustrate how Jesus is willing to do that. Idleman also looks at what prevents us from being filled, such as failing to ask, feeling unworthy, and thinking it is too late. He also writes about our attempts to fill our soul with things that do not fit.

This is a pretty good book on getting to the point where we have nothing left. He has great stories (many about himself) and biblical illustrations as well as good exposition of Scripture. His chapter on humility is great and worth reading the book.

The only thing that makes this book less than perfect is Idleman's quirky humor (you just have to read the footnotes). He's a funny man. But as I imagined a devastated person reading this book, hoping to find God's way out of the depths he or she is in, the humor seemed inappropriate and something that reduced the seriousness of the rest of his book.

I recommend this book but if you are really at the end of yourself, skip the humorous footnotes and just read Idleman's serious and encouraging part of the text.

Food for thought: “Dying to myself and reaching the end of me is meant to be a daily decision and a daily demonstration.”

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Kyle Idleman is the teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is an award winning and bestselling author and frequent speaker at conferences. He and his wife have four children. You can find out more at http://kyleidleman.com/.

David C. Cook, 224 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.