Last Friday in April. Crazy, isn’t it?!? Last Friday of the month – you know what that means…book review time! Yes sirree, I did it. I finished another book this month.

This book is written by Mark Chanski and entitled Womanly Dominion.

I have to tell you this first…last summer, my hubby and I were in a bookstore and he told me I could pick out any book I’d like. I was super excited and started perusing all the interesting titles. When I “laid my eyes on” this one, though, I knew I wanted it because I had heard it recommended several times. So I bought it. As we were walking out of the store, I showed my hubs the book I had gotten. “Womanly Dominion?? More than a gentle and quiet spirit?!?!?!?” He then pretended to throw the book across the parking lot. hahaha 🙂 he makes me laugh 😉

First of all, what in the world is Chanski talking about – womanly dominion? What does that even mean? The first chapter is entitled, “Womanly Dominion Fundamentally Explained” and he says:

“Godly women, made in the image of God, must daily tell themselves: “Win it!” to the glory of God. [They] must … resolve to put forth maximum effort to rule and subdue their daily challenges, so help them God.” (pg. 21)

“Godly women, made in the image of God, must repeatedly remind themselves, “Play your position!” They must loyally resolve to stay at their God-assigned posts, to the glory of God, despite the shouts from the misguided cultural sidelines.” (pg. 22-23)

Womanly dominion, as explained above, is all about ruling well the sphere in which God has placed us, whether that be a job, a husband (haha – kidding!!! don’t try to rule him!! ;)), home life, raising children, ministering in the community, or a host of other things we as women involve ourselves in.

Some of the chapter titles include:

Womanly Dominion…

…Theologically Unpacked (ch 2)
…Deceitfully Assaulted (ch 3)
…in the Old and New Testament (ch 4-5)
…in Child Rearing (ch 8-9)
…in Marital Life (ch 10)
…in the Church (ch 12)
…in the Public Square (ch 13)

I loved and learned so much from the first half of this book especially. Chanski skillfully exposes the lies of the media and culture that urge women to be something other than what God intended, and instead urges women to go back to being the strong and gentle women God intended them to be.

Today, though, I want to share with you my favorite chapter of the book – “Womanly Dominion in Facing Your Fears.” (ch 11)

On page 181, Chanski explains the Fear of Circumstantial Disaster from Psalm 46:1-3:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.”

“Our calming comfort is found not in statistical probabilities: “There’s only a miniscule chance that would ever happen to your child.” It’s not found in human experience: “There’s no way they’d lay off a man of your husband’s skill.” It’s not found in stock diversification: “There’s little chance that all of these different industries could crash at the same time.”

Our true consolation is found when we face head on the absolute worst case of what may indeed happen. Then in the midst, we reckon His promise of His presence as “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

“Therefore we will not  fear”! This enables me to eye yonder furnace with a holy calm, to say as I draw potentially near to it, “It is well with my soul.” “

Isn’t that rich? Do you see why this was my favorite chapter? How many times do we, as women, face multiple fears in our lives and either worry about them or ineffectively attempt to explain them away? I may be abnormal in this area, but I know I tend to be a very fearful person. “What if…?”

Towards the end of the chapter, Chanski lists several truths that a “woman of dominion will do when assaulted by crippling fears about what might happen in days to come”. I’ll list two of the four he gives:

1. “Do what you are responsibly able to do.”

“Heavenly promises and consolations are never excuses for our abdicating our earthly duties and obligations.”

2. “Stare your worst fears right in the eye.”

“We are not to habitually dwell on or expect “the worst,” but surely we are to be healthily bolstered for it.”

The biggest thing I take away from this chapter is to face my fears head on – not because I consider myself to be some kind of spiritual giant, but because there is a powerful God who walks beside me and promises never to leave me. My confidence is in Him.

I do not ignore my fears; I consider them. But I do not consider them for a long period of time. Instead I dwell on Jesus – the Savior of my fears. Do you know Him? Do you have a relationship with this Jesus? Without a saving relationship with Him, there is no hope for you to have peace in this life – or the life to come. If you do not know this true peace, feel free to email me at brownsugartoast [at] gmail [dot] com or check out the website here.

I hope this book review was helpful to you. It was helpful for me to write it! I feel like I learned it all over again! 🙂 If you are interested in buying this book, you can find it on amazon or most likely at your local Christian bookstore.

I trust that this weekend will be a turning point for you as begin to face your fears while holding onto the hand of God.