I’d never intentionally do anything dishonest. I want more than anything to live the way God intends me to. But I’ve realised lately that I cheat, and I steal.
Not from other people. Of course not. I cheat and steal from God. I don’t want to. I don’t mean to. But I do, every single day.
I do it when I waste the time He gives me, on pointless activities. Computer games and online shopping and Pinterest, I’m looking at you! “But I need this to relax,” doesn’t cut it.
I do this when I waste the money He gives me, spending more than I should buying stuff I don’t need. I think I’m frugal. I’m the queen of eBaying and thrifting. But all those, “It only cost me a few dollars!” purchases add up.
I do it when I don’t take care of the body He gave me, comfort eating cake and chocolate and bread instead. Sure, it tastes good, and that sugar buzz feels good while it lasts, but….
Jesus tells a story about a rich businessman whose manager cheated him. The people who hear the story show they think the dishonest guy was clever. Then Jesus gives it a twist. “No! Unless you are honest in small matters, you won’t be in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?”
God lovingly gives me everything I have. Time, money, abilities.
He doesn’t want me to waste anything. He wants me to use everything I have wisely, for Him. He wants me to remember that every second of my life is His. He wants me to joyfully accept the blessings he gives me, and to be a good honest manager of what He’s provided.
That’s being honest in the small things. That’s the way to find the fullness of life He intends us to have. That’s the way He’ll see I’m trustworthy to be given even more.
God wants me to turn to Him for comfort, instead of seeking comfort through retail therapy or eating. His comfort is always so much better than the things I try to replace it with!
I hope I learn that lesson soon!
With every book, the lessons my story characters need to learn are the exact same lessons I need to learn. My next release, due in late September, is no different.
In Love in Store book 5, Teapots & Tiaras, shopaholic Anita needs to learn that God’s gifts are more than material things, and seek comfort and worth in Him, not food and clothes and shoes. And driven medical missionary Matthew needs to discover the opposite lesson, that God wants us to accept His gifts, rather than joylessly refusing what He offers us out of a wrong sense of duty. They both need to learn that they’ve been cheating and stealing from God, when He has something far bigger and better planned for them.
I can’t wait to give this mismatched pair their happy-ever-after, and learn those lessons for myself along with them!
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USA Today bestselling author Autumn Macarthur writes romances full of faith and hope, celebrating God's love as well as a man and a woman finding their happily ever after. She prays they’ll warm your heart and make you smile. An Australian transplanted to Britain, Autumn lives just north of London with her lovely English husband and three demanding cats, in a very small house with a teensy tiny garden. She loves talking to readers, so please get in touch! And get a free Christian romance novella when you sign up for her reader newsletter at http://bit.ly/Autumnsubscribe
Wow! This was a hard post to read. You never know who God wants you to touch with those words. Thank you.
I really hesitated before posting it, because it seemed too heavy for Inspy. But God kinda laid it on me!
He wants us to find balance. Like my characters Matthew and Anita, I seem to swing too much one way, either too worldly, or too much the other way, trying too hard to be holy. The way God wants to teach me is somewhere in between, where I can rest in Him, joyfully accept His blessings, then use them wisely. I read a great little book on this recently, “Radically Normal”. LOL, maybe I better read it again :)
Have a blessed weekend, Terrill! <3
Thank you for the challenge. I can’t wait to read this book and explore this journey with the characters!
Ouch! But it’s a good ouch and one I needed to see today. God has been nudging me to take an inventory of my time and I’ve been resisting; pretending I didn’t “hear” Him speaking to my spirit. However, as usual, He uses a variety of people to get my attention. Thank you, Autumn for following His direction. May our awesome Lord continue to bless you and your writings.
Really good points, Autumn. I know I waste a lot of time.
I usually apply wise stewardship to money, but this reminds me – God owns my time too. I often get my priorities all mixed up and your message today helps me know how to sort them out. Thanks!
He he, I can’t wait to really dig into writing this story. I love these characters. It will be a challenge!
I’m glad it was a good ouch. Dyanne! :) God works in our lives in surprising ways. I’m sure there are huge blessings from seeing where He leads when we surrender our time management to Him. I’m very much still working on it!
I’m sure we all do, Lee. And I’m pretty sure what God wants for us is balance, not all too serious! it’s okay to goof off sometimes and take it easy! I love that the characters in this story are coming at the same issue from opposite directions. I get to explore the ways we get unbalanced in our time and money use from from both sides :)
The problem I find is we can get so busy and feel pulled in so many directions it’s hard to know what God’s priorities for us are. For me, anyway! Even the things I do to relax are busy! I know what I need most of all is more time being still with God. Somehow, that one doesn’t usually make it onto my to-do list! I wonder what would happen if I put that at the top of the list?
I agree that this post was hard to read and it touches me.
I want to have a closer relationship with him and learn not to steal or lie.
Praying for you, Linda. <3
Here in this world none of us can fully be the woman God designed us to be, yet I hold on to the knowledge that we all will be, one day, perfected through His grace.
Even though sometimes it feels really, really hard, I'm learning to embrace the way He leads each of us on our own individual journey of transformation in Him. It means so much that He knows everything about us, yet He loves and forgives us right here as we are.
Thank you, Autumn. I think I will check out Radically Normal, too.
I realised today that what God really is asking me is to spend more time being still with Him. I’m not letting Him go deep enough. He really wants to bless us all with such a deep sense of His love and peace. All that other stuff I’m doing, all the busy-doing-nothing stuff, is my fear of letting Him work big change in my heart and mind. It’s funny how letting His love in feels so scary to me!
What an excellent post autumn. I think we are all guilty of this to some extent. Thanks for the reminder that we should all be striving to be closer to God and serve His will.
Thanks for reading, Belle :)