ELLIE, what do you LIKE to do?
a) Love on God and on people.
b) Write stories.
c) Garden.
What do you HAVE to do?
a) Maintain a nutritious devotional life.
b) Write a LOT of stuff, very little of it having to do with story. Church things, email and website things, bookselling things………..
c) Weed, both garden AND house.
What might God think about all of this?
a) I invented love and then demonstrated it—I gave, I served, I died. Ellie, you’ll never measure up to my standards, but you’re made in my image, which means you CAN love this same way, even though imperfectly. Just don’t make love—or devotions—one more item to be checked off your list.
b) What do you think of that surprise package I handed you? You figured music would be your life focus, but my plan included all that writing stuff—call it lyrics, if you will. Unwrap the whole gift, and use it for my glory. And since you made a request of me years ago, I have in mind a splendid choir for you to direct, as well. And never mind the book-selling part. In the long run it doesn’t matter, and I’ll take care of it.
c) Weeds you’ll always have with you in this world. Just wait, though, to see the garden I’m laying out around your mansion! No weeding—just design and plant and smell heavenly fragrances. And housework? Don’t obsess. “Decently and in order” covers a multitude of dust bunnies.
I love this “interview” – focused on the two main areas of our lives down here – “Want to” vs “Have to”. I’m praying lately that in knowing what I “have to” do, I can respond to God instead of Mother, or World, or internal compulsion. Know what I mean?
Weeds, specifically eradicating them, are a compulsion of mine. My back hurts all the time now. I realize I will never win the war with weeds so I talked to God about it. Then I remembered that He said, “Don’t pull up the weeds…” He did! Check it out in Matthew 13. So weeds fall into the category of what He will take care of – eventually.
Marcia
…..in his new country, the permanently REAL world, Niggle finds that his tree was not just a fancy of his that had died with him. No, it was finished, full of detail, and was indeed part of the True Reality that would live and be enjoyed forever. (LEAF BY NIGGLE – JRR Tolkien)
Ellie, you’ve been reading “Niggle”, or Tim Keller’s book EVERY GOOD ENDEAVOR, which is, ta-da, about Niggle. Either way, since you’ve read ahead and found the ending to be a glorious one, it’s time to exhale; time for a nap! L.K.