How do you explain a book that frees you from something you did not know you were enslaved to? How do you tell women that what they have been taught for centuries is — if not exactly a lie — is at least not the whole truth? How do you convince them that God has a far more beautiful, more loving plan than the round of ceaseless toil that so many have become accustomed to?
Denise George has done just that with A Woman’s Right to Rest, published by Leafwood in September 2012.
Divided into studies of fourteen different types of rest and showing how each is both Biblical and necessary to physical and spiritual health, this book addresses the needs of the whole woman. Dealing not only with the obvious needs for physical and emotional rest, George covers the need for the rest that comes from such unexpected sources as friends, forgiveness, contentment, beauty and peace, memory, and prayer. She also addresses the need for rest during times of crisis or when involved in demanding care-taking situations. She dispels the common myths about rest with mandates and inferences drawn directly from Scripture. (If God Himself rested, she says, “How can anyone refer to rest as unscriptural, or to those who rest as lazy?”)
Far from a dry bible study, however, George makes the lessons come alive by illustrating the lessons with compelling personal examples and stories from other women who have struggled to learn to rest. George writes “God never intended his daughters to live in this continual survival mode filled with hectic schedules, deadlines, chaos, and unrelenting noise.” And, in this book, she explains that God intends — indeed, commands — that his daughters should rest, and offers practical ways for them to learn to enjoy following that often forgotten command.
(I received a review copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.)