About two weeks ago, I received an interesting query. “Would you share some of your tips and tools in a ‘recipe for success’?” Anyone who knows me well can guess at my response: “Of course!” I enjoy the occasional writing prompt and, well, assignment. Writing and editing, after all, pay the bills.
Christianity
God is So Good
God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
He’s so good to me!
— Children’s Gospel Song
I tend toward worry and fighting. If I get stuck, I battle my way out. When worry arises, I create to-do lists and action plans. Sometimes, though, I find myself in a corner that I can’t get out of. No strategy and no amount of scrapping will grant escape. I’m trapped.
I Want to be Useful
“Here am I. Send me!” — Isaiah 6:8
I tend to associate Isaiah’s words with the people who go—the people who move overseas and share the gospel in unreached parts of the world. And yet, his words find a home in my heart, too. More and more often these days, my heart cries, “I want to be useful. Use me, God!”
A Low Whisper
“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.”
— 1 Kings 19:11-3, English Standard Bible
Work and Worries
I sometimes use work to cope with worry. When I have enough work, my worries disappear. I know the concerns are still there, but the work pushes them into the shadows. I can pretend they don’t exist, I’m fine, nothing’s wrong.
A Simple Pursuit
God take us back, the place we began
The simple pursuit of nothing but You
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[Because] nothing and no one comes close to You
Nothing could ever come close
Nothing and no one; it’s You and You only
Nothing could ever come close
“Simple Pursuit,” Passion