I’m a member of Jerry Jenkins Writer’s Guild. I’ve been a part of it for over a year and not done much of anything with it.
Jerry, best known for his Left Behind series, has written over 150 books. This seasoned author makes himself available for Q&A sessions and has a lot of online classes available to help authors. And I’ve let it sit there…untapped.
God, Creator of the Universe, makes Himself available to us. He even set aside one day as holy to Him. It is a day where we can connect with fellow believers and with our family. A day where we can step away from the mundane, material things of the world and focus on the life giving things of the Spirit. And we leave it sit there…untapped.
Recently, I decided to start writing a novel that’s been screaming in my head to get out. Many of you know how crazy busy my life is, so where would I find the time to write a novel? As with anything we do in life, we don’t find the time, we make the time. It all starts with a decision.
So I’ve decided I was going to carve out one hour a day, four days a week to write this story. I can hear the characters cheering because it’s time for them to be born!
In the last few weeks there have been some days I didn’t write, but I forgave myself and wrote the next day. In two weeks time there are about 3,000 words on ‘paper’. If I stop to think about how long it will take to get to the novel length average of 80,000 words, I might give up. So I prefer to look at the 3,000 words and the eight characters who are revealing themselves to me.
The same thing happened when I decided to enter God’s rest in the here and now by honoring the Sabbath. I failed many times. There were weeks where I was not faithful with my time, so when it came time to welcome the Sabbath, I was not ready. However, the Sabbath was here, so I entered in unprepared, forgave myself and decided that next week I would be ready.
We are all unfaithful at times, we are all unwise. But I decided I was not going to focus on the failures, but the successes. I would focus on those times when I was prepared and the joy I experienced.
It all starts with a decision – not a half-hearted maybe I’ll do it – but a mindset that chases after the thing your heart desires. That is a decision that will bear fruit.
Think about a child learning to walk. How many times do they fall? How many times do they get hurt falling? Yet they still get up and try again because they are determined to do it.
Yeshua teaches us that much in life is an internal issue. Paul tells us to take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Solomon writes that whatever we find to do, do it will all our might.
Do you truly desire to enter God’s rest? Do you know it’s available to you in the here and now? Then make up your mind to tap into it and don’t let anything stop you, no matter how long it takes.
Shabbat is always difficult for me, having no one to help me keep it, but from the beginning when the Ruach asked me to consider keeping Shabbat, I have been learning to.
It took me two years just to get the Sunset’s straight, because I have brain damage from a car accident, and an act of will is not always something my body will co-operate with.
After over three years of trying, I occasionally get it right, but mostly find myself keeping it around other people’s ways and whens of doing things, as well as 59 years of doing things ‘my way’, to reference another article of yours.
We are not to covet what other people have, but I do wistfully envy you your family.
Allow me to peel back the roof of my home on Shabbat, Questor. In a house with two teenagers there’s lots of rolling eyes, deep sighs, and mumbled responses. Not every Shabbat, but enough. There have been a few Sabbaths that I’ve been able to enjoy the night alone and it’s been a blessing.
I guess the old adage of ‘the grass is greener’ rings true here.
So sorry to hear of your accident, but it sounds like your heart is walking in obedience, whether or not your body (or other people) are doing so.