The Biggest Job of Your Life.
Remember going for job interviews in your younger years? Or perhaps it’s just been recently. It’s always nerve-wracking and sometimes has a happy outcome, sometimes not, whether you get the job or not. Maybe, instead, you have your own business…and you are your own boss. Somewhere along the way in life, I hope you experience that your work, whatever it may be, is not just a job, but a calling and that you are not doing it just to put in time but to serve God and others. Hopefully it also employs the gifts and talents God gave you. Once I stepped into my calling from God as an author of contemporary biblical suspense novels…which led me to use other talents and become a public speaker, teacher, editor, book coach, and now movie producer…I have started to realize I am not self-employed, but God-employed. And it makes all the difference.
Trusting God in the Valleys…
I have always been an entrepreneur, but as an ad agency owner, before I hit my “bottom” in my addiction to alcohol and with my pride, (I call it being an ego-maniac with an inferiority complex), I was always comparing, competing, striving to get ahead, sometimes regardless of the cost to my health, happiness, sanity and serenity, and even to my relationships with family and friends. That, I have come to realize, is not of God. I wavered between “imposter syndrome” and frustration I wasn’t further ahead, and I wanted more…more money, more business, more recognition and rewards. How to balance this with peace and happiness? I couldn’t will it to happen even though I tried.
Just like I relied on God to help keep me sober, I had to turn my work over to him as well. In the book “Alcoholics Anonymous,” Bill Wilson writes, “We had a new Employer. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well. Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life. As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn.” When things get hard…the balance sheet is in the red, you have unhappy or obstinate clients, it seems like dark forces are working against you, and you are at the end of your rope with nothing left to do but pray…that is when you need to completely trust God and rely on Him to “make your path straight.”
Reaching the Top of the Mountain.
Ever had a mountain of paperwork on your desk? Or maybe a long list of to-do’s that never get done? Do you have goals or dreams that seem impossible to fulfill? That is the place where you should ask for God’s help. Jesus told us in Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” So simple, yet so hard. I believe we need to let go of our self-reliance and simply trust Him.
My husband and I were very fortunate in our pilgrimage trip to Israel and Egypt in 2023 to literally stand on the tops of several life-changing mountains: Mount Sinai in Egypt (where Moses received the Ten Commandments); Mount Precipice, where Jesus escaped from nearly being thrown over the cliffs in Nazareth; The Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount; Mount Tabor, the site of Jesus’ transfiguration in the presence of Moses and Elijah); and The Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified, and following His resurrection, ascended into Heaven. I could die today and be happy for having climbed those mountains.
But since it doesn’t appear God is done with me yet, I am climbing my own mountain…to write modern-day suspense novels that get His messages in the Bible stories across to those who need to hear them, to turn them into movies that further spread those messages to the masses, and to spread His word as far and wide as possible. Sometimes it seems daunting and I trip and even stumble on obstacles along the way. But I believe one day I’ll get there…and then perhaps He will put another mountain on the horizon for me to climb!
Dear Lord, I pray you reveal my next mountain, and once I can see it, guide me in my climb to use my talents to do Your Will and achieve all of the goals you have placed on my heart. Most of all, help me to trust in You to overcome any obstacles in my path so I may best serve You and others. Amen.
