It’s almost universal that creative writing classes teach new authors to write about what they know. And for the most part, that is what I have done. My stories have happy endings because my life has been wonderful. I have followed the guidelines of the Bible since my childhood, avoiding the pitfalls of selfishness, then lust, then knowledge, then materialism. While many people struggle with desire for power too, it never made my list of temptations. Perhaps I realized at an early age that power without wisdom can be very destructive and I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Friends identified this trait in me as humility but I would prefer to think I just applied the old adage, “You never know a man until you’ve walked in his shoes.”
Those who have walked in my shoes know that I have faced adversity, endured stress, and felt disappointment in recurring instances over the years. Yet my overall assessment is positive because I had a mechanism of dealing with life’s problems, the tried and true precepts of the Bible. With each trial, the corresponding Biblical example worked for me and slowly I built confidence in God, which may very well be the practical definition of true wisdom. And with wisdom, I was ready for power.
Not wanting power, it’s ironic that I had it thrust upon me, being an elder in a Christian church for many years. The Bible says a man must earnestly desire that role and initially I did, thinking that I could accomplish some good. But I learned that good leadership was mostly about carrying a burden for others, knowing their foibles and taking actions to reduce harm, actions that those without the details often interpreted as incorrect. Still, I was part of a group and we were at liberty to share the details within it. Our decisions were better because they were a consensus and we had confidence that someone within the group was hearing from God on every matter, although I often felt it wasn’t me. When doctrinal disagreements rose within our church, our critics would say we were just men fooling ourselves that we were God-directed. In reflection, I would say to them, they shouldn’t argue against good results to determine who is foolish.
So, would I trade my leadership experience for something else? Instead of being an elder, could I have served the Lord in the background, a person seeing individual needs and meeting them without any recognition? I liked the background and didn’t need recognition, so I could have been happy in a subordinate role except for one thing– I could think of nothing in the world of more importance than serving God in the role He had for me, not the one I would choose for myself. That is what I have done and in part, that is why my life has been wonderful.
Another part of my wonderful life has been the people God put around me. Accomplishments, great or small, should always be tempered by gratefulness for those who support you. Thankfully, when I sought a life-partner, I had the foresight to pray, and as a result, God gave me a person matched to my intentions. She had a God-given desire to help me and rarely interfered with my decisions. And at the time of this writing, she continues bringing the blessing of friendship into my life.
There were others too. People who were instrumental in my spiritual development at critical junctures of my life. Most of them have departed from me but their impact remains. My parents are on that list, although I wasn’t sure of their salvation status. But they were good to me. I feel for so many children in our culture today who have no parents or ones who have no time for them. As a result, most of my books contain characters who are orphans or neglected because I want to point out that their perspective, if not marred, is at least different because of their upbringing.
I remember teachers, long dead, whose instruction lives on in me. The lady who taught me to type, the one who framed my thoughts so all could see the word picture I was painting, and my adversaries, who presented as fact, things the Bible contradicted. They are all part of my memories. Would I trade them, especially the spiritual detractors, for better memories? No, because adversity is necessary in life to appreciate peace. Christians should learn to appreciate peace since it’s the resting state of mind for every believer in eternity.
Is it enough to be happy in this life, passing the great lessons of the Bible to future generations? After all, that is why I spend my retirement years writing. Personally, I think it is more than enough. The downside is that history records terrible fates of witnesses for Christ who were martyred doing God’s will. Because of this, the selfish, the lusting, the erudite, the wealthy, and the powerful men of this world would say no, it isn’t enough to just teach and follow the Bible, but I suspect those martyrs were happy indeed.
If you see yourself as a creative, successful person, do your accomplishments serve any future purpose? Is your legacy fated to join those of past men and women who are known only to students of history or not at all? In contrast, is what you are doing for Christ known to the eternal God who forgets nothing, and He is pleased with your work? That is where true happiness lies and that is why it is possible to have a wonderful life in a world corrupted with sin.
