Devotional Reflection Focused on Pleasing Him
Whether Living Life or Writing Stories
In the halls of heaven, cherubim, seraphim, and angels surround Him. In Psalm 103:20-21 we read, “Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure.” Although these verses are talking about angels serving the Lord and living for His pleasure, there is a valid thought to be drawn from and applied to us as well.
Angels are ministers of His, and we too are ministers of His. Ephesians 4:12 speaks of “the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Saints refers to all believers. All believers are ministers of His. Angels minister for His pleasure, rather than their pleasure, and we too should minister for His pleasure rather than our own pleasure.
In Colossians 1:10 Paul prays that the believers would be enabled to “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Reach for the Heights! Focus on pleasing Him! Whether living life or writing stories, my purpose is His pleasure. What about you? Are you living for His pleasure or your own?
Writing Stories for His Pleasure
Eric Liddell, Olympic runner of a past generation (central character in the Chariots of Fire movie) once said, “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” In other words, doing what God gifted him to do gave him pleasure because it was done for His pleasure. That is how I feel when I write stories. I write them for His pleasure, and the side product is that in pleasing Him I too am pleased. Nothing pleases me more than the sense that I have pleased my Lord.
A powerful story that encapsulates that concept is The Droll Child. Although a Native American story, The Droll Child is not about native culture per se. It is about every culture, ours included.
As I look at anthropological history I see a pattern of mankind warping truth into error, and God sending voices to call people back to true truth, as set forth in His Word. The Droll Child exemplifies how Christ has come to every nation, tongue and tribe to reveal Himself and guide people back to Him—the gospel wrapped in Indian folklore.
It is surmised that those native to the Americas migrated from Eurasia by way of a land bridge that is thought to have connected what is now Russia with Alaska. The early Paleoindians are presumed to have migrated southward from Alaska disseminating throughout North, Central, and South America. The Droll Child is a Paleoindian fantasy or myth—based on the early migration of the races following the biblical flood and the Tower of Babel incident—that takes place in a fanciful Grand Canyon-like setting.
As with all of my stories (here is a link to Amazon where you will find a list of all of my books) The Droll Child was written for His pleasure.
I welcome your comment on the devotional reflection. Also, if you have read The Droll Child I would love to hear from you as well. What is your response to the story?
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