God Loves Broken People – Sheila Walsh
In “God Loves Broken People” Sheila Walsh sets out to provide a landscape by which any person who has even the slightest amount of hurt and pain (brokenness), regardless the form, can see that God is not upset with them because of the pain, but he is ready and willing to use them because of the pain.
The idea of being broken, and the stigma and taboo that often comes along with it, is so often either pushed aside or made little notice of in Christian circles. Sheila Walsh describes from her first words through the entirety of the book the importance of recognizing your own brokenness and seeing that God both loves you fiercely, and hopes that you will see the value of what you are experiencing. When many authors would take the introduction space of a book to introduce the topic, Sheila introduces herself and the reason for writing this book, personalizing the theme and allowing the reader to see that not being Okay, is Okay. I believe this was vital to the concept and readability of the book.
Though I understood before reading that much of the discussion throughout would be focused on and from a female perspective, I was intrigued to see how the topic would be handled for a male reader. My answer came quickly, and somewhat surprisingly, as I felt drawn deeper into the writing as pages turned and because of the way in which Sheila approached this topic I was encouraged to get deeper into the Word myself as she highlighted passages and used them as source material.
The knowledge that is passed on to the reader through all 13 chapters, though I found it humorous when the jacket of the book mentioned 12, kept me engaged, entertained and wanting to learn more. If there is anything negative within the pages it would be the need for more external examples of brokenness, perhaps having some friends share a story from their perspective, and less that centered on the author herself. However, that being said, this is a wonderful book and a great read. I highly recommend that you pick it and walk through the teaching, apply it and see where it takes you with God, even if you are a person who pretends to not be broken.
God loves broken people is a fabulous read, that may drag at moments, but is redeemed by the wonderful truth that God does not over look your pain. I believe this book should be on the shelf of professional counselors and ministers alike, after all, everyone has a little sense of brokenness within them.
