High or Low, Up or Down

This weekend, while entertaining at a veteran’s home in Iowa, my heart was warmed when a phrase I spoke brought smiles to the faces of people who had been rather dour beforehand. One senior woman had to keep her hand over her mouth to keep from losing her dentures when something I said vibrated her funny bone. Heads nodded and bobbed while foots tapped to the tunes that my husband sang as we ministered, making their day a little less routine. God blesses us a great deal when we choose to bless others.

That's one of the high points in our travels. There are many. We meet people who share how one of my books has blessed them or how they gave one of my devotionals to someone they'd just shared Christ with. We meet people who've been blessed, just when they needed it, by some of the songs my husband sings, always crediting God for the blessing. And that's what it's all about.

Writing, or any other occupation for that matter, is like that. We bless people, more than we even know, but if we've been true to our calling, all of it points to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Whether we write fiction or non-fiction, romance or mystery, the words we pen should point to the Father so that the gift He's given us brings honor and glory to Him...not to us.

But what about the low points? As long as we, as Christians, are living out our days in hell on earth...for it's the only hell we'll ever know...there will be low points. A bad review, a rejected manuscript, or an unfair criticism, can all send us into the land of despair. Our heart breaks over the dreams we had for that piece of writing and we block up for days. All we think about is the harsh reality that we are not perfect...that maybe we shouldn't be writing at all.

If our writing is to honor God...not us...then why do we take the bad so personally. If it's all done for Christ's glory, and we want to do the best we can for Him, then let's leave the burden on His broad shoulders. I mean...think of it as His and not ours. When we take our hands off the project...leave it in His hands...then we'll be better able to fix the problem. I know you all understand what I'm trying to say.

In Jeremiah 30:17, the Lord tells Jeremiah "I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," and Nahum 1:7 says, "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him." In 1 Peter 5:7, Peter writes, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

Instead of having a pity party, with a bruised ego to contend with, we get down to the work of editing, fixing, and polishing because our personality is gone and Christ's is in its place. We do our work for Him, we honor Him with the best that we can do, and then if the world rejects it...then we can crawl up into His lap and He says, "I know." because they rejected Him first. Whether high or low, up or down, we live to honor Christ with our words and with our attitudes about our words.

Barbara and her husband minister during the summer for Christian motorcyclists Association in the US and live in Canada during the winter. They put about 20,000 miles on their motorhome and another 7-10 thousand on their motorcycle attending rallies across the north central region in the US. Her books and His CDS are available at www.barbaraannderksen.com