Maria A revolving book for every season of life, not just a one time read on grace. - Ruth Chou Simons touches on a topic that we all know a little too well. Standards. Self-made standards, not thinking we are enough for anyone, not enough for ourselves or even God. We try and measure up to everyone else. We set the bar so high that we start to think that we will never reach our goal. Envy, discontent and selfishness sets in. She reflects back on her own life and shares how her daily walk with Christ has blossomed through God’s word and how it has turned those exact thoughts into contentment when surrender took place. Her stories and God’s truths are woven together into a beautifully written book that will help you remember how great our God is. “God desires to prove his faithfulness through our surrender in our weaknesses, but so often we choose to resist his help, clinging to our own determination to prove ourselves strong. We’d rather limp along in our striving than surrender in weakness.” Because of God’s sacrifice, because of God’s love, because of God’s forgiveness and because of God’s grace, GOD IS ENOUGH. This book is for everyone. God’s word is true and living, so whether you’re longing to find peace in your every day life and need to stop measuring yourself up to standards of the world, or you’re in a season in fellowship with sisters in Christ, When Strivings Cease is the book!

MrsOld Worried? Not feeling like you are good enough? Striving? - If you struggle with thoughts of how you measure up to expectations or feeling like you are exhausted holding your life together, Ruth Chou Simons puts together a biblical guide to learning to reset your heart to focus on the grace upon grace that is more than sufficient to help us through the struggles of life and the expectations our culture places on us! She uses her own life vulnerably as an example of how one can go years living in a mentality of striving even after embracing the gospel. She allows you to see that it takes a daily renewing our minds to actually believe this grace we’ve been given! I appreciated Ruth’s goal, “My goal is to help you realign with what it really means to trust in the grace of God. And to stop thinking of your relationship with Jesus as something adequate to save you from eternal despair but not enough to secure your identity here and now.” Even Christian self-help books often miss the fact that we are striving to be wonder women rather than women who stand in wonder of God’s undeserved grace overflowing in our lives! That is how we can find true joy and true fulfillment only when we see that we’ve been given all we need by the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus adorning our ugly sin with His righteousness! Ruth nails it, “We’re practically hooked up to our self-bettering resources intravenously, so dependent on the latest content in books, podcasts, webinars, and more that we think continually about ourselves: Who am I? What’s my purpose? How do I belong? Am I enough? Does anyone love me? There’s nothing wrong with these questions; the answers just were never meant to be found within ourselves.” But Ruth’s book continually redirects the reader to the Bible and reminds us that this is a daily battle, “I want you to know that realigning your mind, heart, and identity to grace, not works is a daily battle. Don’t be surprised when it’s minute by minute. Don’t be surprised when it’s not instant change. Don’t be surprised when you find yourself needing, once again, to speak against the Enemy’s taunts of discouragement, doubt, and derailing fear.” I highly highly recommend this book to worriers, strivers, rule-followers, controlling types— Basically people like me, who even though their minds know the truth their hearts need to hear it over and over again especially with circumstances (like a worldwide pandemic, political unrest, losing loved ones suddenly, empty nesting…) need to remember that God’s strength is shown in our weakness and we can completely be still and rest in His sovereignty—leading to relief and rejuvenation for our weary souls!

Mujipuji Such a timely book - The gospel of grace>the gospel of self-improvement. This book is a balm for my weary soul. It’s not up to me to fix my life or make sure I belong somewhere. Instead all I need to do is rely on what Jesus has already done and accept his gift of grace. I’m so thankful that Ruth Chou Simons write this book for all of us who have been striving too long to try to feel like we are “enough”. She includes lots of personal anecdotes to show that she has actually lived out the message of the book, and yet she always turns to Scripture to really bring every point home. Each chapter is a perfect length to read one a day and process through it before reading the next chapter. I hope to be able to use this book for a small group study someday soon.