Have you ever been absolutely confused about the direction of your life or about a particular circumstance? I have been pretty confused the past few months.
- Is it a waste of time or a wise investment of my resources to spend time writing?
- Should I get a real job where someone tells me what to do and I do it and a paycheck comes every month?
- There are so many different directions I could go in (as far as writing projects); which one is even the best?
- If I am such a struggling sinner, is it wise to try to minister to others? Should I focus on just growing myself until I’m more qualified?
These questions (and more) have been violently disrupting my peace lately.
Yesterday I was walking from the parking lot to the gym when I ran into someone I met at a writer’s conference in 2014. We had talked only twice in the past four years, but as soon as we began talking, I felt like she was in a unique position to understand.
I started opening up about writing and how discouraged I had been. Turns out she understood exactly what I was feeling (Her comment, “God, am I being foolish or faithful?” nailed it). In fact, she had just written a book about surrender.
As she shared, I had a crazy sense that God’s eye was directly on me…As in, He timed my morning and her morning perfectly so that our paths would cross.
Her advice was to simply trust God. I don’t need to figure out how it’s all going to work out, but need to just commit my writing to Him and leave the results up to Him.
We said goodbye, I walked to the locker room,then the strangest thing happened. I started singing a song that I learned back in 1989 in my Bible club.
“God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man
Give thanks to the Lord, though your testing seems long
In darkness He giveth a song.”
I absolutely stopped in my tracks, because I couldn’t believe that I remembered this song from 3rd grade. The words were so powerfully applicable, it was as though God Himself was bringing this song back from the archives of my memory to speak directly to me. I kept singing, slowly, so that I could listen to every word.
“O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistakes
He knoweth the end of each path that I take.
And when I am tried
and purified.
I shall come forth as gold.”
I was blown away…God was surely in this place! I was on Holy Ground here in this unlikely locker room, surrounded by naked elderly women showering and changing. The skylight felt like a stained glass window and I just had to take a picture to try to capture the beauty of it all (until a few angry scowls reminded me of the sign on the wall which read “No cameras allowed.”) Oops.
ANYWAY, that writer friend’s name is Ginger Harrington and she asked me to write a post for the launch of her book, Holy in the Moment (ironic, huh?) I thought you’d enjoy a sneak peak into just how much God used her in my life that morning. And, you never know, maybe if you buy her book, God will speak to you just as powerfully as He did to me.
Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:
“Surrender is the gift of Holy for your heart.”
“One holy choice: not every moment is good, but believe God is good in every moment.”
“My perspective shifts from the pressure of doing to the simplicity of offering. Somehow, this becomes a practical act of reference, right here in the midst of 1000 things to do today.”
