So, now you have taken the challenge. You have answered the question, “If I could do anything in the world I wanted – no holds barred – what would it be?” Hold it! There’s one more thing . . .

After deciding what we want to achieve in life, plans are formulated by which to start. Yet, there is one more step, at least for the believer. That is to ask for God’s help in answering another question: “In the event I follow this course, will the reaching of my goal bring me into a closer relationship with God – or will doing so put distance between us?”

The answers to these questions will tell us a lot. Yes, God does delight in our recipe, as long as we are delighting in Him. But, human tendency being what it is, we are apt to run about like little gods attempting to be in control of our plan, every single detail of it.

In looking back over my life, I see several goals met thus far, encompassing years of hard work. Some of these years were spent simply trying to discover what worked for me – what would satisfy my tremendous need to produce and achieve. God, patient as He is, held steady. My guess is that He would have preferred to spare me some of the agonies, but He respected me enough to let me learn.

There were the years as a sales manager. But top sales, trophies, awards (such as furs, jewelry, trips, etc.) did not bring any lasting satisfaction. After this, four years of selling real estate and making a considerable amount of money also didn’t feel truly rewarding. Then, came my Jonah years, in which I found the “belly of the whale” to be the worst place of all.

It was while in a hospital bed facing eternity that I saw what God was saying. “You’re killing yourself!” As the months and even years of pain, disability, and extreme fatigue passed, I learned to listen. And, guess what: God was not asking me to knock myself out like that! No, He was inviting me to believe that the very thing I had always wanted to do was exactly right.

In the early years, writing poetry, letters and even simple thoughts brought a great sense of wellbeing. This writing, allowed an awareness of having linked myself with what was most important in life: learning to seek God’s will while here in the land of the living. But I could never show these works to others. It felt as if my soul was lying on those pages. I dared not risk rejection. So, my writings remained, quietly, in a dresser drawer.

Then, while lying on sheets starched so hard they hurt, I began to realize a couple of important truths. There is precious little relevance in caring what people think. And, spending a lifetime of trying to prove one’s worth can greatly shorten the duration of time on earth. So I vowed, “God, if you will let me live, I will write.” What I meant is that I would write and share it with others.

Scripture shows us something interesting about why we were created. We were created to fellowship with God (be companions), and to “make him proud” (or, bring Him glory as Scripture puts it). And, He is out to help us do it! Our part is to overcome the fears and let go elements of pride that might be laced within the desire to bring some distinction to ourselves.

There is no sin in God; His kind of “pride” is worlds away from ours. His delighting in us enriches everyone. Our kind of pride seeks to enrich ourselves.

So, whatever it is that lies deep inside you, God is in it. He beacons each one of us to believe what St. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).