Courageous Women of the Bible

Have you ever been scared? I have. Plenty of times. Sometimes it helps to stop and think of other women in challenging situations who dug deep, found their courage, and powered through. And guess what? There's a book for that!

Courageous Women of the Bible, by LaTan Roland Murphy, is a book designed to encourage and strengthen women. It tells the stories of Biblical women – some familiar, some maybe not so much – and how they found their courage in God.

In the introduction, the author refers to herself as “a self-proclaimed chicken”. She states that, as she realized her own need for courage, she wrote this book to encourage other women. And encourage she does!

Deborah, one of Israel's judges. Jochebed, mother of Moses. The Samaritan woman, moving from one relationship to the next. Mary, mother of Jesus. Throughout Scripture, women play vital roles in God's furtherance of His Kingdom, and the tasks God calls these women to often take them out of their comfort zones. How did they do it? Read and see.

Each chapter invites the reader into the life of one of these women of valor. We see where they had to make difficult choices, and how they persevered to do so. I liked the questions for reflection at the end of each chapter. You can read the book straight through, without digging into the questions, or you can read it one chapter at a time and take some time to really reflect on each woman's situation and how it can inspire you to live differently, live more courageously. This is a wonderful book, and I'll be referring back to it again and again for inspiration.

I received an advance copy of Courageous Women of the Bible from the publisher.