The Specs:
Title: Walk It Out: The Radical Result of Living God’s Word One Step at a Time
Author: Tricia Goyer
Published: 2017 by David C Cook
Length: 224 pages
Amazon Categories: Religion & Spirituality; Women’s Issues
Source: Kindle purchase, $2.99
Tricia Goyer has one of those personal stories that inspires from the pulpit and in print, and is ironically, the exact kind of story that I’d avoid reading, let alone purchasing. Attempting a just and fair description of a lifetime of pain and brokenness might cheapen the redemptive story of a life radically transformed by God. And that is certainly Tricia’s story, and the subheading which drew my attention one frosty January morning, idly browsing the bestsellers when the Holy Spirit prompted me to ‘read this one next’.
If I knew this would be the story of a teenage mother struggling with an unplanned pregnancy, a mother who had already terminated a pregnancy before, I’m not sure that I ever would’ve cracked the cover. As I am writing this, it is January and that is Sanctity of Life Month, so, it seems particularly fitting that God drew me to this book, in this season. What is remarkable about Tricia’s story is how God not only healed her pain, but used her story as a catalyst to reach out to others hurting from or facing the same difficult choices, and through Goyer’s apostolate of mercy, are being offered a better path.
Walk It Out emerged from Goyer’s decision to stop searching for a calling and begin taking God at His Word, and doing what He says, ala James 1:22. To sum up what the book is about, I offer this quote from Goyer (pg 32):
“Whether you realize it or not, God intended for us to do what the Bible says: take the gospel into all the world, care for the vulnerable, help the needy, tend to our most important relationships. These are guideposts that point us down the path of true living and eternal life.”
The next ten chapters proceed to do just that, addressing each of these different areas with stories from people Tricia’s spoken with, or from anecdotes from her own life. At its core, Tricia points us continually back to engaging with God in His work and His plan — choosing to be with Him — than filling our lives with empty actions as we try to be perfect Christians and miss Christ. If this message sounds familiar, you may not have noticed that Joanna Weaver (Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World) wrote the foreword, so, if you liked her book, you should check this out as well. Every chapter concludes with questions to reflect on and action steps to take and implement what you’ve learned going forward.
Takeaways
There were dozens of passages that I highlighted in this book, mostly by Goyer, but others included quotes by my personal heroes (Elisabeth Elliot, Watchman Nee, Amy Carmichael) and some Franciscan prayers. If I had to pick one or two areas that really hit home, one of them would have to be Tricia talking about her early attempts at writing (pg 43):
“I wanted to write sweet, Christian romances. The only problem was my plots lacked conflict. Without hardship and longing, my characters had little motivation and few internal struggles. […] How could I write deep and impactful things when I refused to unearth and face my own deep pain?”
There is no way that I knew going into this book that Tricia would put a name to the face of my own struggles with fiction writing, and there was no way that Tricia knew, writing this book, that somewhere in the Midwest, a reluctant reader would hear God speaking to her through Goyer’s own honesty. Tricia did eventually go on to write fiction, more proof that God can heal our brokenness, and He delights in giving us the desires of our hearts.
There’s a lot to chew on here and as for me, I’ll be ruminating on some of the other chapters for months to come. For a short read, there was so much more that I could go into that won’t fit into this blog post but I encourage you to remain open to God speaking to your heart. If you feel that He’s directing you to reading this book, please do, and I am excited for your future. What are your thoughts? Start a conversation below. I look forward to hearing from you!
Lauren Miller 