Have you ever been told you have a strong personality? Or called tenacious? Or overwhelming? Chances are you are a strong willed woman. Many strong willed women are threatened by other women with strong wills as they see them as some sort of competition. I love to surround myself with them, because I have found they are more than capable of getting things done long after others have thrown in the towel.
If you have a strong willed child or are interested in learning styles, you may be familiar with the works of Cynthia Tobias. If not, I highly recommend them. She has a new book out A Woman of Strength and Purpose targeted to Christian women (and of course moms) who are strong willed.
I love her premise. Tobias suggests if you add God to the strong willed woman, you will find someone who is capable of doing the tough things God wants done that others aren’t even willing to consider doing. She also believes adding God to the strong willed woman will help her overcome the natural weaknesses that come with any strength.
As a strong willed woman myself (I know. You are shocked!), I am well aware of the tendency to want to jump in and just start doing or push people out of the way who are dragging their feet or don’t even see the problem or the solutions you see. What I loved about this book is that Tobias doesn’t beat fellow strong willed women up for their weaknesses, but instead points to God as the solution.
She counsels in firm but gentle ways how to reframe some common thought processes and behaviors using God to keep you centered. Once God helps Christian strong willed women work through those weaknesses, Tobias points out the strengths that same strong will have when also used by God for His purposes.
I appreciate that each chapter ends with a story of a strong willed woman and her journey learning how to lean on God and allow Him to work in her life…and what happened after she did. I have to imagine the Apostle Peter had a bit of a strong will and looking at what God did with him, gives me hope as well. (My personal theory is when asked to name their favorite Apostle, most strong willed people will name Peter!)
Although she doesn’t really address the issue directly, I believe Satan uses the weaknesses of the strong willed Christian woman to convince her she better keep quiet, not make waves and in short do nothing for God. If she can accept the counsel of Tobias though and allow God to work first in her and then through her, the strong willed woman may just be astonished to see what God can accomplish through her.
If you are a strong willed Christian woman – especially one who is beating herself up on the sidelines – I highly recommend reading this book and getting back in the game. God has a purpose and a plan for your life and He gave you a strong will to help you as you follow Him.
This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.