Had enough yet? Eyeballs still glazed from Zooming and fretting you haven’t done enough to support loved ones, please the boss and keep the kids on grade level? Let it go! You're not in charge and that's a good thing. That’s the upbeat advice in five upcoming books from faith publishers that encourage back-peddling from stress and finding balm in belief.
Some sing this advice outright in the title. Tyndale Momentum has Hang On, Let Go: What To Do When Your Dreams are Shattered and Life is Falling Apart by Christian blogger and podcaster Frank Viola releasing in July. Jon Farrar, acquisitions director of nonfiction, says, “The book was in the works before the crisis of 2020 bulldozed its way into our lives. Frank was writing down his own thoughts about the once-in-a-lifetime crises that flatten you – and what it means to lean on God through those times. He needed these ideas and meditations in order to survive his own time of trial. When 2020 hit us, we instinctually knew that there would be a large number of people who would appreciate what Frank was saying in this book and what he learned as they faced their own day of reckoning in 2020.”
In October, Tyndale House releases Pray Confidently and Consistently: Finally Let Go of the Things Holding You Back from Your Most Important Conversation Hardcover by Valerie Woerner. Kara Leonino, senior acquisitions editor for nonfiction at Tyndale House says the time is right for these titles now that we are finally able “to slow down and see things that may have been missing in our frenetic lives that could bring growth, healing, and wholeness, and prayer is part of that. When we cling too tight to our perceived safety lines, we’re operating out of our own control and not making space for God to speak to us.”
Woerner’s business, Val Marie Paper, provides resources on prayer and her book was in the works before the pandemic because even ordinary times many people constrained by “expectations, perfectionism, or distractions,” says Leonino. “What we need is to let go of the other things consuming our energy that aren’t allowing us to simply stop and connect with God.”
Christian author and speaker Chrystal Evans Hurst shares her own struggles and success with learning to trust God in her upcoming book, The Gift of Letting Go: Give Yourself Grace. Dare to Live Free (Zondervan, July). Transforming her life and finding acceptance in her identity meant tossing overboard “unnecessary numbness, pain, bitterness, and shame,” according to the publisher.
The idea of “letting go” is inherent in A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits (IVP, Sept.) by Ashley Hales because we’re hanging on tightly to the wrong ideas. Essentially, this book is addressing the myth that “ 'the good life' can be achieved by doing more, having more, being more and countering it with biblical truths,” says Elissa Schauer, IVP managing editor and associate trade editor. The book was underway before the crisis of 2020 but “those events certainly drove Ashley to greater depths of authenticity while writing and revising.”
Schauer point to something she saw in bestselling author Suzanne Stabile’s forthcoming title The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance, and Transformation: ‘We don’t like it when the world around us seems out of control, but let’s face it: control is an illusion. It is my favorite illusion, but that doesn’t make it real.’ For many of us, the pandemic was a revelation about how little control we actually have. Books like A Spacious Life help us to not only stop grasping for control but also to recognize the goodness of trusting God—even and especially when life comes undone.
“Let Go” is not in the title but it’s clear “letting go” of fear is among the major themes of David Marvin’s We're All Freaking Out (and Why We Don't Need To) releasing from WaterBrook (Oct.). Marvin, young adults director for a Dallas church, points out that “at least 366 times, the Bible commands us to not fear. God loves us and doesn’t want us to be ruled by anxiety. Not surprisingly, most people don’t understand what the Bible actually teaches about anxiety, fear, and worry,” according to the publisher.
His manuscript arrived when the pandemic did in early 2020, says Susan Tjaden, executive editor, WaterBrook & Multnomah. "This project dropped into my inbox at just the right time. Some might call it serendipity, but I say it was divine timing.” More such titles are on the way from WaterBrook, she says. A sampling:
—The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done, by Kendra Adachi (Aug.)
— Even If: Trusting God When Life Disappoints, Overwhelms, or Just Doesn’t Make Sense, by Mitchel Lee (Aug.)
— Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace, by John Mark Comer (Sept.)
