Beyond Our Control

Overcome Lost Dreams, Discover God's Good and Experience Deep Hope

Michael McAfee, Lauren Green McAfee

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781400235209
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Self Improvement

Realizing how little control we have over our lives can make us fearful and anxious--or it can lead to greater intimacy with God, a richer prayer life, and a joyful eternal perspective.

Seasons of grief, pain, and loss of control are inevitable. Despite our best efforts and steadfast faith, reality rarely matches our expectations. In an unpredictable and broken world, how do we cling to a foundation that provides purpose for today and hope for the future?

In their new book, Beyond Our Control, Michael and Lauren McAfee show us how trusting God brings greater contentment than the illusion of control. With deep and abiding faith, the McAfees draw on their experiences with adoption, infertility, illness, and loss to help readers navigate unexpected circumstances. Offering biblical insights and their powerful story of pain and providence, Michael and Lauren know that no matter what happens--to their family, work, or ministry--everything is as it should be because God is in control, and he is good.

The McAfees help us:

• recognize the illusion of control and how it leads to greater anxiety;
• understand why glorifying God is the richest expectation we can have for our lives;
• realize that Jesus' pain on the cross brings hope and healing to the pain we experience now;
• practice the profoundly comforting spiritual discipline of lament, which makes room for us to process grief; and
• use times of loss to make more room for God's work of growing and sanctifying us.

If you struggle to embrace the life you have rather than the life you wanted, this book invites you to find a deeper peace in God than you could have imagined.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword by Dr. John Townsend
• Introduction: Twists and Turns
• Chapter 1: Misconceptions: The Half-Lies We Like to Believe
• Chapter 2: Expectations: The Alluring Illusion of Control
• Chapter 3: Anxiety: When Worries Come Our Way
• Chapter 4: Grief: How Loss Feels and How to Respond
• Chapter 5: Powerlessness: Surrendering to God
• Chapter 6: Intimacy: The Joy of His Presence
• Chapter 7: Prayer: Bending Our Will Toward God’s
• Chapter 8: Hope: Walking Toward the Win
• Chapter 9: Peace: When All Is Well
• Chapter 10: Perspective: An Eye Toward the Eternal
• Chapter 11: Perseverance: Staying the Course
• Conclusion: Where Do We Go from Here?
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• About the Authors