Responding to the Call

Pastor KDan shares insights on ‘7 Men and 7 Women, the secret of their greatness’ by Eric Metaxas

This book, as the title suggests, focuses on the theme of seven men and seven women and their greatness. I have desired to read this book for years. I had heard numerous friends talk about the people who are featured in this book including George Washington, Suzanna Wesley, Rosa Parks, Chuck Colson and many others. I realized I knew very little about the lives of these remarkable individuals and wanted to know more about them. What I did know is their lives were full of many events and situations that were incredibly difficult, inspiring and, in some cases, almost unbelievable!

In today’s world, I see a vacuum of godly strong leaders who are prepared to stand up for their convictions and do the things God has called them to with passion and diligence. Instead, we see many examples of leaders including Christians chasing the comforts of life and pressing into a life of selfish satisfaction.

This book profiles the stories of men and women who pushed those ideas aside and surrendered their lives for a greater purpose. In some cases we do not know about their personal relationship with Jesus Christ but many of these individuals clearly put God first and gave themselves over to serving others.

Consider the following quote from the introduction on the section about men: “The stories in this book are the stories of men who followed that latter path (to protect, love, and serve others), who seemed to know that at the heart of what it is to be a man is that idea of being selfless, of putting your greatest strength at God’s disposal, and of sometimes surrendering something that is yours for a larger purpose – of giving what is yours in the service of others.” (page 15)

In addition, consider this quote as the author introduces the section on women: “When I considered the seven women I chose, I see that most of them were great for reasons that derive precisely from their being women, not in spite of it; and what made them great has nothing to do with their being measured against or competing with men. In other words their accomplishments are not gender-neutral but are rooted in their singularity as women.” (page 229)

As I read about the lives of these men and women from the past – ALL of them went through trial and difficulty. However, they continued to press on and persevere in what they thought was right. They acted on their convictions in the face of difficulty and persecution.

It reminded me of James 1:2-3: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

In life, we will all encounter difficulties from time to time and many of us want it to stop or give up. In this book, you will read about people who walked through the difficulty rather than running from it, and God did incredible things through their determination, convictions and diligence.

If you want to be inspired and encouraged to live well, I highly recommend you read this book and learn from the biographies of great men and women from the past.

Written by Pastor Dan Kowalczyk