Colliding With Destiny || Sarah Jakes

Title: Colliding With Destiny

Author: Sarah Jakes

Length: 215 pages

Publication date: September 2, 2014

Genre: Christian inspirational

Rating: 2/5 stars

Way back in 2014 I received and read Colliding With Destiny. I had been excited about the premise, but ultimately it fell flat for me. I just had a look at the book on Goodreads, however, and apparently only 2 other people felt the same way as me about this book. So maybe you'll feel differently, who knows?!

Colliding With Destiny is an exploration through the life of Ruth. Sarah Jakes uses her own stories from life to guide you through the trials and heartaches that Ruth faced, and by doing so brings this well-known story to another light. The goal is to inspire you to collide with your divine destiny, allowing God to lead you there.

The Meh:

- So much of this book felt repetitive and forced. I think the whole book would have been a lot shorter if she hadn't kept making the same statement over and over, just phrased in another way. The structure of the book is looking at a section from the book of Ruth, and then the author connecting things that happened in her own life to what happened to Ruth. In my opinion, the connections were often quite forced. It also seemed like the author made generalizations to serve her own purposes, just adding to the forced feeling through a lot of it.

- There was a journal section at the end of each chapter, and they often felt disjointed from the rest of the chapter. Often I didn't even find anything in the prompt that I could journal about! I didn't think they made a lot of sense or impact in a devotional sense. 

The Good:

- Sarah Jakes has had a hard life, and her honesty about it was very encouraging and refreshing. She makes it clear that she made bad choices, and that obedience to God has made all the difference in her life. 

- I found this book more motivating or meditative, rather than devotional. The author made a lot of statements that made me think a little bit longer, which I appreciated. A couple examples:

"We make life so much more difficult that it has to be, all because we make God an option instead of a priority." - pg. 138, Colliding With Destiny

"Those called by God must be willing to have faith strong enough to withstand the rejection of others around them." - pg. 170, Colliding With Destiny 

I would not recommend reading this book as a devotional, but rather as a motivational/inspirational book. There are good lessons to be learned from Sarah Jakes' life, and the overall message of the book was solid.

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.