A Woman God Can Use: Old Testament Women Help You Make Today's Choices

by Alice Mathews

Since the beginning of time women have faced challenges in making wise decisions and balancing priorities in life. A Woman God Can Use examines the lives of several women from the Old Testament—their struggles, their choices, and their relationship with God. Issues such as marriage, leadership, and suffering are addressed as each woman's story unfolds. Even in the culture of today's society, women face these same issues. A Woman God Can Use emphasizes the development of faith and courage as the driving force to help readers make choices in life that allow them to be used for God's glory.

Genres: Womens, Christian Living, Christian, Nonfiction, Old Testament, Christianity, Religion

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Viktoriaf]

Uplifting biblical devotional resource.

[Ricki]

Some good Biblical insights IF you can chew the meat and spit out the bones. Can't recommend to anyone due to its dangerous complementarian/patriarchal views that enable wife abuse.

I should have known what I was in for when I came across this line: "We see a close friend having to cope with a broken marriage, not because she has been a poor wife, but because her husband has succumbed to the charms of another woman" (p. 53). Wow, so a broken marriage is only ever a woman's fault, let's not assign any blame to a husband for having an affair.

But then I read the chapter about Abigail, subtitled "How to Live with a Difficult Husband." Mathews includes a long anecdote about a woman she met, whose husband had been beating her for all 13 years of their marriage. The wife finally got the courage to involve another couple they were friends with, who began informally counseling them and now the husband is beginning to improve and this "might save their marriage." Obviously this is problematic for many reasons:
-abusers usually don't change
-abusers usually react violently to confrontation
-the other couple are not professional counsellors, and in fact the Christian counsellor in the story failed the couple because they just told the wife to be submissive to her husband (so definitely don't try Christian counselling I guess is a moral of this story)
-even though this is the 2012 update of a 1990 book, there is no update to this story—was the marriage saved or not? Apparently that doesn't matter—it is enough that the marriage "might be saved." But possibly the husband ended up beating her to death, who knows??
-Mathews is not an expert on domestic abuse and should not be giving any advice about these issues at at all!

Obviously the chapter should have ended with something like, "God provided a way for Abigail to get out of her bad marriage, and if you're being beaten by your husband—if fact, if you and/or your kids are at all unsafe, INCLUDING from verbal, emotional, sexual, spiritual etc. abuse, you need to get out and protect yourself and your kids!" But no, it ends with "Work to make the best of a bad situation... Let God work in you and through you by his power to redeem a bad relationship." Wow wow wow.

[Teresa Parker]

Used to enhance a study of all women of the Bible. Stories and facts helped the class presentations.

[Amanda Stoeckmann]

This is the only devotional book on women of the Bible that really spoke to me. I found it encouraging, inspiring, convicting, and eye-opening. My favorite chapters were the ones about Eve (tragedies), Hannah (success/depression), Huldah and Miriam (gifts from God), and the Proverbs 31 Woman -- that last one surprised me, because I usually groan whenever I hear women teach from that chapter, but Alice Mathews did a phenomenal job on it!

My favorite quotes:
1) "If depression results from the way we think about ourselves, then it can be lifted by the way we think about ourselves in relation to a holy, knowledgeable, ad powerful God who is committed to us."
2) "If you believe that God is both sovereign and good, then you must believe that He purposes to use a gift for which you think you have no aptitude or interest. The problem may be simply a question of practice to develop skill in the use of that gift. These gifts are the expression of God's power and presence in our lives. They are the evidence of God's work within us. They can transform us as we put them to work. That is reason enough to unwrap them and put them to use."
3) "We cannot set our priorities and live by them if we don't know who we are and what our abilities and gifts are. We must concentrate our strength where it can make a difference for the important people in our lives. Where do you feel God most often uses you? What skills do you have that you would like to develop?"

[Julia]

This book does take a deeper dive into stories of women in the Old Testament that I wasn't super familiar with. Beyond that, it's a rather slow read, definitely not what I would consider a page turner. Overall though, I appreciated the author's extensive amount of Scripture and her strong voice when it comes to oppressed and abused women. The chapter on Abigail was probably the highlight of the book.

[M. La Fontaine]

ENLIGHTENING

I am so awe inspired by the gift this author has to provoke the reader ti look deeper
I didn't want thisr book to end.
It is so moving
Brilliant work thank you for sharing GODS love with the world.

[Wystan]

Was not particularly impressed with this one. Pretty dated in its perspectives.

[Michelle Swanson]

Made more for groups then individuals still not a bad read.

[North Beds Methodist Circuit Library]

Found this book very helpful in looking at problems in mine and my friends lives. Good application of lessons we can learn from looking at the lives of women in the old testament as well as Mary.

[Janet]

I found this book at the thrift store and thought it would be interesting to read about some unknown (Rahab, Huldah) and well-known (Eve, Ruth, Esther) women from the Old Testament. Plus I need to get my act together. Some topics include: How to See Long-term Consequences in Little Decisions, How to Lead When Called by God to Do So, How to Live With a Difficult Husband, How to Cope When Times are Tough, How to Keep Your Priorities Straight, How to Use Your Spiritual Gifts Wisely (and more).

[Shanda]

This book had very helpful and enlightening information that can be used in everyday life. I appreciate the correlations between the books of the bible and everyday current life.

[Shellie]

Alice Mathews has a wonderful way of making Scripture come alive. She brings up interesting perspectives on stories we've known for years and shows how they can apply to our lives today.