One day, out of the clear blue sky, God spoke to my heart and said to me, “You know, Marj, you do what you want.” I was in my thirties when he hit me with that revelation.
Do we do what we want to do? There are men paying alimony and child support. There are people working at jobs they hate just to make ends meet, serving in the military performing tasks and duties that they’d rather not do, appearing in court or reporting to a probation officer.
So naturally, my first inclination was to argue. I responded, “That’s not true, Lord. I have to do a lot of things that I don’t want to do.” Isn’t that funny? I told God that what He told me wasn’t true. Yet, Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie. My response to God displayed my ignorance of His Word and His character, in addition to showing my lack of faith.
God did not respond to my statement. He just let me think it over a little while. I didn’t have to think for very long. God reminded me of all the times I made a beeline for the computer, putting dinner on hold or letting laundry pile up because I was in the middle of writing a story and I had to sit down and write. Why? Because writing was important to me, and I made time for it. It was one of my greatest joys in life.
When my children were little, I enjoyed making clothes for them. One day, a neighbor examined a jumper that I had made for my little four-year-old daughter. She said, “Marj, you did a great job on this, but when do you have time to sew?” I replied, “Oh, I don’t have time to sew. When I sew, chores don’t get done.” Why? Because I enjoyed sewing, so I made time to do it.
As I contemplated God’s statement, I came to a realization. I really do do what I want to do! Boy, did I get excited. God had taught me something new and that thrilled my heart. So I could hardly wait to share that knowledge with a fellow believer. The following Sunday morning, right before the service started, I told someone what God had told me, that we do what we want to do. And just like I’d argued with God, she argued with me.
“What do you mean, I do what I want to do? You think I work all the time because I want to?”
I didn’t argue back. I thought, Oops, she’s not ready to hear that. That day, God taught me something else. Not all believers grow or mature at the same rate, so God doesn’t teach all of us in the same way. He guides and instructs each of us individually, when we are spiritually ready to grasp the lesson that He wants us to learn.