My kids have often asked me, “Mom, why do you write Modern Day Bible Stories?†Of course they would prefer that I write what they would say is “hot†(‘you know, something like 50 Shades of Grey’) and that would immediately make us all rich and famous. I tell them today that I trust that God gave me the desire to write contemporary suspense novels based on Old Testament stories, that’s it’s His will for me, my purpose. But for a long while, years even, I couldn’t answer the question because I asked it myself…
…until the day someone told me that reading one of my novels, The Runaway Prophet based on the Book of Jonah, brought them closer to God. Another told me they went back to church again after reading my first book, The Faithful One, based on the Book of Job. Still another young lady asked if she could talk to me after I spoke to a small women’s church book club that read my novel, The Peace Maker, based on the story of David and Abigail, saying apparently she was married to the same man as the character in the book, US Senator Darren Richards, who is a behind-the-scenes narcissistic, abusive alcoholic. And I realized that God’s plan might not necessarily include me becoming a rich and famous author. It might…but it might not. I realized what’s more important – that if my novels help just one person get closer to God, I am answering God’s call.
In my newest novel, The Jealous Son, a modern murder mystery based on the story of Cain and Abel, Eliza Trellis (aka Eve) is at a very low point in her life where she is suffering from loss, heartache…and an addiction to pain pills. She is browsing in a bookstore when a Bible accidentally falls onto her foot. So she picks it up and sees it’s the Bible of her native Navajo heritage known as “Diyin Bizaad.†She buys it, starts reading it and manages to muster the courage it takes to find recovery and relief from her pain through faith.
I truly believe that God gave us His Word so that we can get to know Him better and live according to His will and plan for us. It even states this in the Bible itself: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.†(2 Timothy 3:16-17) Today I not only hope, but rest in the knowledge, that in writing contemporary bible-based novels I am spreading His messages to readers today so that they may get a little closer to God. And that is enough for me.
Is it enough for you to answer God’s call even though you may not see immediate rewards? I pray that no matter what job we are called to do, we all do it to the glory God and can rest in the knowledge that our work serves God by serving others.
For more information on my latest novel, The Jealous Son, a modern murder mystery based on Cain and Abel, visit my Website Books Page
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