Write His Answer, a Bible Study for Christian Writers, by Marlene Bagnull, is a book I picked up at the Write to Publish conference two weeks ago. The Lord is using Marlene’s insights to cement my commitment to Him and His call on my life.
Yesterday the chapter I studied was “Keeping in Balance.” Quoting her writing mentor, Marlene stated, “life is like a table with four legs. If any one of those legs is too short or too long, the table is wobbly.” She told how she had to spend some time with the Lord getting her priorities straight, as she was using up too much time writing, and neglecting her family and friends. She also realized that her relationship with God could not be one of the legs; it had to be the floor upon which her “table” sat.
In my case, my table has six legs. Family, friends, work, ministry, writing, self. All must be in balance, or I fall apart, and the “food” I’ve prepared to nourish others tumbles to the ground, useless. Lord, help me to keep my life in the proper balance so those I love do not suffer. Help me to not have writing for You as my goal, but loving and knowing You. May my writing flow from my relationship with You.
Yesterday the chapter I studied was “Keeping in Balance.” Quoting her writing mentor, Marlene stated, “life is like a table with four legs. If any one of those legs is too short or too long, the table is wobbly.” She told how she had to spend some time with the Lord getting her priorities straight, as she was using up too much time writing, and neglecting her family and friends. She also realized that her relationship with God could not be one of the legs; it had to be the floor upon which her “table” sat.
In my case, my table has six legs. Family, friends, work, ministry, writing, self. All must be in balance, or I fall apart, and the “food” I’ve prepared to nourish others tumbles to the ground, useless. Lord, help me to keep my life in the proper balance so those I love do not suffer. Help me to not have writing for You as my goal, but loving and knowing You. May my writing flow from my relationship with You.
Sounds like an awesome devotional! I'm going to check into getting it! And I love the analogy of the table and God being the foundation. You have a wonderful way of putting things: I definitely want to have my writing flow from my relationship with God, but I know it doesn't always do that! Have a blessed day, Jeanette!
ReplyDeleteJody: Thanks for your kind words; you are always lifting others up. May the Lord lift you up as you need it. dear.
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend this book for any writer who is serious about their call.
Blessings, Jen
What a great thought--life like a table! God=the floor. Thanks for the new thought and for helping remind me that I need to saw down some legs for the correct level of balance. :D
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
Wendy: Wow, sawing down some legs, excellent word picture! Sounds dramatic, but sometimes necessary, huh?
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Jen
I love this devotional and keep rereading it. So many nuggets within it. God is really using it, at least for me He is.
ReplyDeleteI love this analogy. I love her writings too:) It's so true--we have to keep balance in our lives or nothing goes as it should.
ReplyDeleteEileen: Oh that's so great. I didn't know anyone else who's read it. It would make a perfect gift for any writer.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Jen
Terri: I think balance is a challenge for us all, writers or otherwise. Satan loves to get us distracted with unimportant details, to steal our time away from the good stuff, like relationships.
Blessings, Jen
I love how the author wrote that God is the floor. So true! Even if our table is balanced, if our floor is not Jesus than it's going to be awfully wobbly and the table may fall anyways. I think I've heard of this book before. It sounds good.
ReplyDeleteYes, I expected her to say that Jesus is one of the legs, but it makes better sense that He be the foundation of our lives, not just one aspect of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by. Blessings,
Jen
God as our foundational floor, amen and amen. And I do see the Spirit of God in your writing. All God's "chillin" recognize each other too. Thank you for that review.
ReplyDeleteKaren: Thank you for your kind compliment; you are so sweet and gracious.
ReplyDeleteBlessings on your family,
Jen
Thank you for sharing what you took away from the devotions. Balance is so hard! I struggle every day. Writing in the morning, kids all afternoon, evenings off. But I find myself wanting to write, or check blogs, or scratch down ideas in the evenings too.
ReplyDeleteI try to remind myself it's not a race, but I'm so excited about writing, it's really hard not to want to run instead of walk.
Have a wonderful day!
Jill: Thank YOU for sharing this insight. I, too, want to run, without looking back, even! I keep hearing the Holy Spirit say, "These things take time." Our society is overly prone to instant everything, and that's not good; makes us impatient.
ReplyDeleteMay the Lord grant us wisdom to stay balanced,
Jen