Hustling God [Hardcover]

M. Craig Barnes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

Hustling God describes how we spend most of our lives striving to grab what God is patiently waiting to give us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barnes takes readers on a lifelong journey with Jacob paralleling this biblical figure's internal struggles with our own. As Barnes states, Jacob was born to strive. What he could not have by right, he deceived to obtain. He was born in a family of deceivers, became a deceiver himself, had sons who deceived. Still, as God's chosen one to receive the blessing, Jacob was indeed blessed. He just didn't see it that way. His envy and striving nature robbed him of all the joy God so desired him to realize. Contrast Jacob with his son Joseph, who had real cause to complain. As Barnes shows, it's all in the attitude. Barnes (Yearning: Living Between How It Is and How It Ought to Be) centers Jacob's mistakes around modern-day anecdotes and stories so clearly that readers realize we are no different from our historical counterparts. In 11 chapters, the author discusses the many facets of our internal struggle to live our lot in life with good grace and still dare to go after our dreams. Specifically, Barnes details our struggles with love, work, ourselves, God and related issues of learning to develop the faith that sees God's faithfulness in every circumstance.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

We work so hard at life. Most of us spend year after year trying to get better jobs, better homes, better relationships, even a better spirituality. But we still can’t seem to get life right. Every day we face the haunting doubt that we haven’t done enough. “I should try something else,” we say. “I should try harder.”

Jacob would have understood. His name means “striver, schemer, supplanter, hustler.” And as Craig Barnes reveals, he could have been the poster boy for the American Dream—because like us, the ancient patriarch spent most of his life trying to grab what he could only receive as a gift from God.

In Hustling God, Jacob’s story depicts our own spiritual drama as we work to gain an advantage with God that is ours all along. From our resolve to seize life with gusto, through years of working to achieve our goals, to the crisis that leads us to the blessing we so craved in the first place, Craig Barnes outlines our life journey and its inevitable outcome.

Hustling God is filled with true anecdotes of men, women, and families like ourselves, who have populated the churches Barnes has served. Chapter by chapter, Barnes invites hard-running, stressed-out, burned-out people to simply stop. Stop running—long enough to realize that we’re lost. Stop—and encounter the God who has climbed down the ladder from heaven to earth to find us. Stop—so we can at last receive all the blessing that, in Jesus Christ, God was dying to give us.

Hustling God ultimately demonstrates that life is not something we grasp and clutch to ourselves, but a gift God freely gives. When we accept his gift instead of trying to control it, we learn at last to value and enjoy who we are and what we have -- Publisher

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031021954X
• ISBN-13: 978-0310219545
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,063,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

M. Craig Barnes is pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His previous books are Yearning, Hustling God, and When God Interrupts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making sense out of life, November 27, 2002

By 

Ross McQuarrie (Langley, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hustling God (Paperback)

Chasing an illusive dream? Frustrated and angry with how life is turning out despite your very best attempts to make those dreams come true? Or perhaps through your drive and ambition you have reached the top of the ladder of the ‘American dream’ only to discover that the ladder has been placed against the wrong wall.

In Hustling God, Dr. Barnes uses the life of Jacob to show that “the only good dreams come from God. And God insists on simply giving them to us.” By hustling God, manipulating our circumstances or other people we are likely to miss the blessings that God wants to shower on us that bring lasting meaning and joy to life.

This book spoke powerfully into my life on how to find personal peace and hope in a world fixated on achievement, success, and the material trappings of life. Highly readable but profound in its content, Hustling God should be on every thoughtful Christian’s ‘must read’ list.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow, this book is me, July 17, 2007

By 

Avid Reader "AR" (Montana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hustling God (Paperback)

What a fantastic book. Barnes follows the story of Jacob in the Bible, the striver. He shows how Jacob never really believed that God blessed him, and shows how we do the same. He uses examples from our lives that make it so real -- for example, most people believe God is out there and loves people, but few believe he loves US. He even says that on Sunday he's worshipping God but forgets about God come Monday when the stresses hit.

I particularly liked the chapter on Finding Love. He shows how Jacob's love of Rachel is a lesson in fantasy love. According to Barnes, Jacob was not in love with Rachel, but in love with the idea of being in love. So he works 7 years to make his fantasy come true, and then he marries both of the sisters. Then he works another 7 years to make his fantasy into a reality. Hence, don't chase fantasies. Barnes points out that all of us marry Leah and Rachel, meaning, there's the part of that person we don't want and the part we want. We get both, whether we like it or not.

He continues to draw from examples at work and in the personal life. When one finishes the book, one is left in deep thought about all the blessings in life and how we just need to ask God to show us the blessing, rather than trying to work so hard for it all the time.

5.0 out of 5 stars Hustling God by M. Craig Barnes, July 10, 2011

By 

Beverly Enderlein "storyteller7" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hustling God (Paperback)

This is an excellent book that satisfactorily clarifies many of the basic questions of life, such as finding the best way to endure suffering, and counting on the faithfulness of a Faithful God. It is life-changing and wisdom-producing. I have recommended it to many, and have purchased this book for gifts because it is excellent.