God is looking for ordinary people to play significant roles in his story.

That is the premise of I Am Not But I Know I Am, by Louie Giglio.

Giglio starts off with taking a look at the name of God, I Am. If God is I Am, then by default, I am not. Thus, the play on words for the title.

The rest of the book is full of stories from Giglio’s own life, contemporary culture, and the Bible, that reveal I am nots who are used by I Am to do great things.

While the stories were inspiring and encouraging, this book held little challenge for me. It was nice, but it didn’t bring me to any great new thoughts or ideas that could grow my faith.

In fact, the word “be” is another way of stating “I am.” And Giglio stretches things a bit by forcing “I am” into words like “be-come,” “be-loved” and “be-hold.” Even though he states in one of the appendices that he takes some interpretative liberty with these ideas, it was confusing and distracting.

I had a hard time staying focused because I was so frustrated by the misinterpretation of these concepts.

I get what he was trying to do there, but just felt like he forced things too much and the result was a concept that fell on its face.

There were a couple of positive elements I gained from the book.  I enjoyed the idea that if God is I Am, them I am not. I also found intriguing Giglio’s One Word Bible Study method.  Other than that, though, I really didn’t gain any fresh thoughts from the book.

All in all, it was an encouraging read, somewhat inspiring, but not challenging. If you want something that will help you grow in your faith, this probably won’t be what you need.

What is God doing in your life that can only be accomplished with the help of I Am? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading I Am Not But I Know I Am, by Louie Giglio, you can purchase it at Amazon.com, in print or for Kindle.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Multnomah Books as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“