In Trouble and in Joy: Four Women Who Lived for God (Biography)

In Trouble and in Joy: Four Women Who Lived for God (Biography) by Sharon James. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780852345467.

Margaret Baxter (1639-1681) was a rebellious, glamorous teenager, who married a Puritan minister twice her age. Although prone to anxiety and fear, she was devoted to evangelism and had a deep compassion for the poor. Sarah Edwards (1710-1758) had an extraordinary sense of the love of God. Her recorded spiritual experience during a time of revival is one of the profoundest known. Anne Steele (1717-1778) refused several offers of marriage. She had a consistent gratitude for Gods goodness; many of her poems and hymns capture her sense of the presence of God. Annes life included submission to suffering, which, she believed, brought her closer to God. Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879) was one of the best-known Christians in Victorian England through her many hymns, tracts and devotionals. Her hymn, Take my life and let it be, is one of the most popular of all time. This book looks at the lives and writings of four women who lived between the 17th and the 19th centuries in England and America. Most notably, throughout the wide range of situations these four women experienced they shared a common perspective. Their contentment and happiness did not depend on good health or a happy family. It came from living for God.