Developing The Leader Within You: Student Workbook Book

This book was given to me but sat for some months unread - the introduction and opening chapter just didn't resonate. I just wasn't sure where it was going. I put it aside. Some time passed and then I decided to flick through it again, and fell upon the title of Chapter 6: 'The Divine Thwarter'. Interesting concept. Who thinks of God in this way? What kind of God might thwart our efforts and intentions - especially if they are good and wholesome and altogether reasonable? Reflecting on the last 15 years, there are times that I have felt thwarted. I decided to read the chapter.

In this chapter, Eldredge explains that in our efforts to secure 'the dream' here on earth, in this lifetime, we tend to make idols of things here which distract us from loving God as we should. We pursue things which, truly, hold only 'a false and imaginary happiness'. Ironically, many of these 'idols' are good things in and of themselves. Sometimes they are even ministry-oriented. He writes: 'Most of our idols also have a perfectly legitimate place in our lives. That's their cover. That how we get away with our infidelity' (p.80).

Wow. This is a challenging concept, but resonated enough with me to get me to read the book in its entirety, from the start. It was still not a straightforward read: it is in someways deeply counter-cultural and requires a certain degree of honesty and a readiness to dig deep. It will only appeal to readers who have reached a stage in their life journey where they are aware of deep, unfulfilled longings in their hearts and encountered a certain degree of disappointment with life so far. Don't read this book because you enjoyed Eldredge's bestseller, Wild at Heart - you may be disappointed.

I'm glad I read Desire, and have indeed found it useful in reflecting on my own life journey. I won't endeavour to explain it to you, but will give you a couple of quotes which, for me, are significant in summing it up. "There are three things that we must come to terms with in our deep heart. First, we must have life. Second, we cannot arrange for it. Third, it is coming."
If this is a little enigmatic for you, then that's okay. For me, I return the book to the shelf resolved to be a pilgrim, not an arranger, and ready to embrace the mystery of life rather than always seeking to possess and control.

The book remains, however, hugely life-affirming and hopeful. Readers who are able to enter into the central ideas, will appreciate how this second quote encapsulates a major theme:"Life is a desperate quest through dangerous country to a destination that is, beyond our wildest hopes, indescribably good."
The book is rich in quotations from classic philosophers and writers such as Pascal, George Eliot, Dan Allender, Larry Crabb and Thomas a Kempis plus favourites such as George MacDonald and CS Lewis. I would have appreciated some more detailed referencing or, at least, a bibliography, so that I could read further.