An evening with Paul Young - author of The Shack

The words of this post aren't sufficient enough to describe the utter joy I experienced after spending last Wednesday evening at a local church listening to the heart of Paul Young. If you aren't familiar with Paul, he's the author of the best selling novel, The Shack. If you've been following my blog for awhile, you might remember that one of my earliest posts was on The Shack. I still say that it is one of the best pieces of fiction I've read in a very long time (perhaps ever).

The evening began with Paul sharing a bit of what led him to write The Shack...his wife asked him to write a book for his children for Christmas. With the manuscript complete, and no financial resources to have it professionally printed, he prayed that God would guide him. God's answer to Paul..."You give this to your kids, and I'll give it to mine." So, he came up with enough money to run 12 copies of it at the local Office Depot. He distributed the copies to his children, wife, and a few other family members and friends. For those that had the privilege to read it, they knew that it couldn't just stop there and encouraged Paul to have it professionally printed. With the help of friends and family, he was able to have 1000 copies printed. That began what led to a book that has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and is radically changing the lives of its readers.

As the evening went along, Paul also became very transparent in divulging different aspects of his past that caused him to live in his very own "shack" for 11 years. However, the little nuggets of wisdom that he shared throughout the evening allowed me to fill many pages in my notebook. God has certainly blessed this man beyond belief and restored, many times over, the "years the locusts have eaten"! The evening ended with a book signing and an opportunity for pictures. However, what possibly impressed me most was that he gave each person requesting a signed book, a personal note in the book and a hug! He was a pure delight!

Here are a few of the nuggets Paul shared that spoke volumes to me:

"God's love is 100% all the time. Everything He does is motivated by love."

"God pursues us with relentless affection!"

"What is it about the way you love me right now that I don't get?" (What Paul prays when fear shows up. Remember the Bible says that "perfect love casts out fear".)

"There is healing in the receiving and giving of forgiveness."

"Let's bring our secrets into the light, because we're as sick as the secrets we keep."

"Even the wrath of God results from His love, because He does nothing that isn't first motivated by love."

One last note - if you haven't read this book, PLEASE DO!!! You won't be disappointed.

The Shack...

It seems to me that just a few short days ago, I spent time blogging about the issue of TRUST, and more specifically trusting specifically in God and His plans for us. No sooner had I posted the blog did I continue reading in my book, The Shack by William Paul Young, that I read these words of Young’s:

“Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me.”

Now, while these words were spoken to a fictional character by a fictional character portraying Jesus, I can’t help but smile at how my sweet heavenly Father can even use fiction to make truth even clearer. Beautiful words – well written!

I also mentioned how FEAR & UNBELIEF can be a couple of the factors that keep us from giving God our full measure of trust. Again, Young wrote on this so amazingly well, that I can’t help but share:

Mack: “So why do I have so much fear in my life?”
Jesus: “Because you don’t believe. You don’t know that we love you. The person who lives by their fears will not find freedom in my love. I am not talking about rational rears regarding legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it; you talk about it, but you don’t know it.”

Speaking of The Shack…for those of you that haven’t read it…PLEASE DO!!! I can honestly say that it is one of the best pieces of fiction that I have read in a long time. It remains on the best seller lists, and you can find it pretty much anywhere. If you want to be challenged, be transformed, and be blown away in such a way that you will yearn for more of God, then please…take a trip to…The Shack.