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?

What Makes Work Worth It

Well I'm finally back. Thanks for your patience.

Work has been very exciting. Not the work itself, but coming to work each day. A couple of weeks ago, I felt God move me to start praying for the people I work with. I just couldn't stop thinking about these people and longing for good for them (quite inexplicably, too, considering some of them were not people I had any natural affinity for). So I began praying for each individual that works there (about a dozen people). It started out in just general"blanket" prayers, but the change it made was noticeable. My boss (a believer) came up to me within two days and told me that he could feel that someone had been praying. One guy came up to me out of the blue the first day and started talking about faith and life. It was astounding. Since then I have had several interesting conversations with different people, often about spiritual or religious issues, and I have come to love them even though I hardly know them.

I look forward to coming in to work each day, despite how gruelling it has been lately, just because I have come to care so deeply for the people there. Prayer changed me. Those who used to annoy me or at least not matter to me have become important. And I wonder if that isn't the reason God has us pray at all. I don't believe he needs us to pray to do what He wants to do. Even Scripture clarifies that we pray in accordance with His will (not just for what we want). But I think He delights to include us in what He is doing, so that we might share in His heart and desire for His creation. And so that we might get over ourselves.

I needed to get over myself.