Surrender Your Junior God Badge by Jackie Kendall

Kendall says we women have it in our DNA to be controlling. We want to take over God's job. She'd rather we surrender to God our attempts to run the universe, or at least our part of it. She encourages us to rest from our vain aspirations.

This book hit hard. She covers so many areas we women need to work on. Kendall helps us understand where the desire to be a junior God comes from. She reveals our self-deceptions. She helps us identify it's fuel. She helps us with the temptation to be a “yes” person, trying to do it all. She shows how we want to be omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. She shows how the push for excellence in all we do can be a problem, as is trying to be the quintessential peacemaker. She identifies the characteristics of wanting to be God's personal assistant. She helps us build confidence in God's sovereignty. She identifies the fatigue of a lifetime of trying to be in control. She gives steps a recovering control freak can take.

This is a great book. Kendall nails the issue. I am impressed with all of the aspects of being controlling she has covered, from walking on egg shells to being a nag. There were some surprises in the book too. She explains how working to avoid pain by trying to control the universe actually has a great cost emotionally and spiritually and reveals a lack of faith in a sovereign God. And this on worrying about the future, “Grace is not available for the things that might happen.” (59) I also learned about Christian blackmail and being a spiritual paramedic.

Kendall herself is a recovering control freak. She has great stories from her own experience to illustrate her principles. She includes good teaching from the Bible too.

If you have an exalted sense of responsibility, read this book. If you think you could do a better job of running the universe than God, read this book. If you have delusions of personal sovereignty, read this book. If you think you have your life so together you don't need to read this book, read this book. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter so it would be a good book for a group study.

My rating: 5/5 stars.

Jackie Kendall is President of Power to Grow Ministries. She is a popular conference speaker and the author of several bestsellers. She and her husband have two married children and three grandchildren. You can find out more at www.jackiekendall.com.

Destiny Image, 300 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through The Book Club Network for the purpose of an independent and honest review.