Faith Over Fear: Harnessing Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty by Micheal Leach was not what I expected. My disclaimer to this comment is that I am not saying that it is not a good book. Just not what I thought I was going to get when I was approved to read it. ( I received a copy of the book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.) From the title, I was expecting to acquire a bible based book with references to scripture and how faith in God helps one overcome fear to build resilience. However, what Leach's book does is take the reader on a personal journey through his professional life beginning in high school, then to college and career, illustrating how being fearless through his faith built his resilience to lead a successful life.
From this perspective, Micheal Leach has led a very successful life centered around hard work and the willingness to trust God's faithfulness to lead him to build a life that he would not have attained without taking chances and stepping out in faith; when perhaps playing it safe would have been an easier if less successful path. Leach held jobs throughout his life in the NFL as an assistant to the head coach for the Chicago Bears, then moving forward later in his career to work in the white house as the first-ever Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. One quote from the book that I feel illustrates the overall theme of his story is, "I leaned into faith. I trusted that even when the path seemed unclear, I was exactly where I was supposed to be. And that's the thing about faith--it doesn't guarantee that the journey will be easy, but it promises that every step forward is worth it."
Towards the end of his book, Leach includes various "tools" to use to assess the reader's current spot in life and whether they are following potential or are stagnant in fear of moving forward. I was not expecting this either but feel it is an interesting addition to the book.
Overall, I feel that had I known that the story would be mostly a personal account of his life, I might not have picked it up. From the title I would have preferred more direct references to his spiritual journey with God leading his path and helping him conquer his fears. I did appreciate the segments that Leach does include a reference to God leading him forward. And he certainly gives God recognition in the acknowledgements in the end. I just felt it was more his initiative and less spiritually led, which is what the title suggests. The one section that I can honestly say I related to most dealt with his trusting God was in Chapter 2, when he tells the account of sitting in church, putting the last $50 he had into the offering plate. His example of surrender being the "nature of faith" was spot on. He wrote, "That's the nature of faith. It asks you to release what is in your hand so that God can release what is in his. " I appreciated this reference, and wish Leach had put more of these direct instances in his story along with some biblical references to support his accounts. I think this would have enhanced the faith portion of his work and encouraged readers even more in their own journey.
I am impressed with Micheal Leach's ambition and life accomplishments and am thankful he shared those experiences in his book, Faith Over Fear: Harnessing Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty.
No comments:
Post a Comment