For His Glory?
I am sitting down to write and illustrate my books this afternoon, and praying that God would be glorified by the work of my hands. But no sooner do I ask this, than I am struck with the thought that I have no idea what that means, or even if it is possible. The Word tells us to "do all to the glory of God", in the context of acting in accordance with our convictions (I Corinthians 10). But can He be glorified by my writing a simple children's story and drawing a picture to go with it? The stories come out of my faith, and do point to it in allegorial ways, but they do not bring the Gospel message explicitly. Even if they did, I would not be convinced that they were done "for His glory". I can write about God and not for God. Can what appears to be a morally neutral act somehow have eternal significance? Is it possible to write for God, to bring Him a gift? What could I possibly do to bring something to the All-Sufficient One?
In the movie Chariots of Fire, the great runner Eric Liddell, says, " I feel God's pleasure when I run." I have often thought of this quote, and wondered if God feels pleasure when I draw or write. I want to believe it is true, but don't know if there is any Scriptural (or other) basis for believing it. Any thoughts?
posted by Jenn @ 4:13 PM
8 Comments:
Thanks for that passage, Matt. I have heard it said before that in the Christian life there isn't a distinction between the secular and sacred. It is an interesting thought, though admittedly hard to grasp. I suppose anything done to the best of one's ability so as to bring glory to God becomes a sacred act because of the heart behind it.
I'm glad that sharing these thoughts was helpful to you, too. Thanks for responding!
Thanks for writing about this, Jenn! How funny, I think God must be trying to get my attention about this very topic, as it was also the sermon that our pastor gave on Sunday (entitled "Marketplace Wisdom"). I've often felt that work I did in the biochem lab was worthless because I wasn't doing "Kingdom" work, or making a tangible difference in someone's life.
However, in Pastor Gary's sermon, he hit the point home that all work is glorifying to God, simply because we are made in His image, and He is a worker. When we work/create with all our hearts we are reflecting one of His attributes, and thus bringing Him glory.
So I guess God is glorified when I run an experiment because He is the ultimate Scientist--the creator of the DNA that I study. And God is glorified when you write/illustrate a children's book because He is the Author of life and the ultimate Artist. :)
Thanks Katie. Somehow I do feel that he is glorified when we work at things will all of our hearts. I think it honors Him to put our all into our work because we are aware of Him and want to please Him. It occurred to me just now that He's given us the tasks before us, and so, even if they seem menial to us, they are deeply important simply because the author and perfecter of our faith has ordained them. If He has caused or allowed it for my growth, then it is good.
:)
It was great to see you again, by the way.
Great to see you too!
Great topic, Jenn. I really don't have anything insightful to add other than a recollection from what Chuck Swindoll wrote in one of his essays. He said something to the effect that we are all ordained in one way or another. So you are an "ordained" writer and I a "ordained" software programmer. Now that you are cranking out your postings, I ought to get my act together as well.
Dave, Swindoll may have said it, but he's getting the idea from Luther and/or Calvin (can't remember who right now--maybe both, even!). It's an idea from the reformation that one's vocation lies not solely in clerical orders or in marriage, but in everything we do. It's a pretty neat concept, I think.
Hello Jenn, you are probably really busy right now. Hope everything is well with you and that you will find some free time to get back to blogging.
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