Book Review: It’s Not Over

It's Not Over book on a striped background

By Josh Gagnon
Thomas Nelson, 2020
224 pages

Amazon Description:

Do you feel like you’ve settled for a life less than you once desired? The good news: it’s not over! It’s Not Over is a book for anyone who has ever felt discouraged, detoured, or disappointed by the path of their life and who longs to dream big again.

Pursuing a dream is essential to living a life with purpose. Yet we often bury our burning desires and dreams deep in our hearts because it seems as if there’s no way we can accomplish them.

In It’s Not Over, pastor Joshua Gagnon, founder of the Next Level Church network, reminds us that we were born to dream—and to dream big. In fact, our dreams have the power to shape our lives.

Join Joshua in discovering the answers to these questions and many more:

• How do you determine what your God-sized dreams are?

• How does dreaming help you discover your purpose?

• How do you overcome disappointment and find hope again?

• How do you pray bold prayers when you don’t feel like praying at all?

If you find yourself minimizing your dreams or feeling like you’re settling in your life, the good news is you have time! As long as you have breath in your lungs, God has a dream for you to chase. Start identifying your God-sized dreams today and take action towards achieving them. It’s what you were created for. And you can start today.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I might make some extra coffee money at no extra expense to you if you buy something through one of my links. Read more about that here.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for sending me a copy to review! I was in no way obligated to provide a positive review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s pretty much a sure thing that all of us have had some kind of dream at some point in our lives. Everyone is a little different when it comes to dreams. Some of us are constantly dreaming, inventing new ideas and exploring new passions. Others have one or two big dreams that they hold onto and work towards for a long time. Either group is susceptible to doubts, discouragements, and road blocks, and It’s Not Over is devoted to helping you deal with these obstacles and more.

Just to be clear, this book is geared towards Christians, and likely won’t be very helpful to you if faith isn’t a value for you. Pastor Josh Gagnon does a great job of using biblical examples to reinforce the truths he shares about how we dream and execute our goals. The wisdom he conveys is both practical and encouraging, and I found myself reevaluating a few of my own dreams by the time I finished this book.

The thing I found most helpful were his explanations for how to know if the dream you have is something that is part of God’s plan for your life and thus something you should persist in pursuing, or if it is something that you should let go of in order to pursue a new dream. This is a nuanced topic which he addresses with compassion but also with truth. The following passage was particularly impactful for me:

“…there is a generation of Christians today who believe that God’s will is black or white, right or wrong. They believe there are only two paths, and only one is God’s will; the other is definitely not. This belief creates fear, and doesn’t allow for the kind of freedom that God desires for our lives. It keeps us from moving forward with boldness and joy.”
Josh Gagnon, It’s Not Over

Wow! Raise your hand if you want to live in freedom and move forward with boldness and joy. I know I do! It’s Not Over is full of wisdom in regards to chasing your big, God-given dreams and finishing strong. Be prepared for some serious self-examination, but also know that if you aren’t scared to be honest with yourself then this book can help you grow and move you towards the realization of your biggest goals. I highly recommend this book and will be handing it off to friends and family as suggested (read: required) reading.

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