A Sudden Glory, by Sharon Jaynes

I am fully aware that I am not Sharon Jaynes's target audience.  Most of her books have the words "woman," "women," or "mom" in the title, and the tagline on her ministry's web site is "Equipping women to live fully and free."  But I saw her newest book offered by Waterbrook/Multnomah and figured it would transcend gender.  A Sudden Glory: God's Lavish Response to Your Ache for Something More does seem to be focused on a female audience, but I still enjoyed it and was encouraged and challenged.

Recalling C.S. Lewis, whom Jaynes quotes frequently, A Sudden Glory addresses the question of that longing Christians have for more intimacy with God and awareness of his presence.  Jaynes has learned to live in an awareness of God's constant presence and companionship.  The more we focus what we do in everyday life on enjoying God, the more he will reveal himself in "sudden glories," ways that we otherwise would overlook.

I especially enjoyed her chapter on gratitude.  Jaynes points out that Paul wrote, "I have learned how to be content . . .," as if contentment or gratitude is a language to be learned.  From the womb we are naturally self-centered and self-absorbed, but "we can learn God's love language of gratitude . . . . We can speak words of gratitude that remove our blinders so we can see glimpses of His glory every day. As we discover and practice the beautiful language of gratitude, our native tongue of self-focused dissatisfaction begins to fade."  That's a language I need to become more fluent in.

Jaynes has a companionable tone and a passion for knowing God.  It's easy to see why she has a vibrant conference ministry.  Even though she occasionally addresses the reader as sister, and sometimes uses illustrations which speak primarily to her female audience, there's plenty here for a man to hear.  Man or woman, a higher level of sensitivity to God's is a worthy goal that A Sudden Glory can help to bring closer to reality.

For more about Sharon, go to sharonjaynes.com.

Thanks to Waterbrook/Multnomah for the complimentary review copy!