The Shelter of God's Promises by Sheila Walsh

    In The Shelter of God's Promises Sheila Walsh presents nine foundational promises to help the reader get their eyes off their circumstances and looking into the face of God.  These promises include Provision, Peace, Confidence, Love, Grace, Hope, Strength, More (not materialism, but more of Himself), and Home (an eternal home).

     Walsh begins by reminding us that, "Culture has driven us to think of promises as personal fulfillment, when God's promises are not about us, but about Him and being saved by Him.  God's promises are an expression of His Holiness."  All of the promises rest upon us realizing that our life is about Him and bringing glory to Him.

What I appreciated most about the book is the way she entwines Biblical and modern examples and then continually brings us back to the place where we must learn to rest in Christ.  For example, under the promise of Provision, Walsh uses the example of the Feeding of the 5000.  We all know the story; but she draws our attention to Christ's compassion; not only for the 5000, but also for the disciples.  He puts them into a boat for a brief retreat, to help prepare them for what is to come.  Once the sermon is over, Christ requests that the crowd is fed.  Here, Walsh points out, the challenge for the disciples is not to concentrate on what they do or do not have, but about giving what we have to Christ and looking to Him for the answer.  The truth of the matter is that the disciples did not have the ability to feed all these people, and isn't that true of us also…."Without me you can do nothing" …we forget that and scramble around to meet the demands of the day.  But that is the whole point.  It's about God and what only God can do.

This book was a great encouragement.  I will keep it handy because it will be worth reading again.While my opinions are my own, I want to thank BookSneeze for sending me a copy of this book to review.