Yesterday, I was writing about free will and obedience to God. Then later I found myself looking over my novel which had it’s first set of notes from a professional editor. It seemed like a great explanation of the balance between free will and obedience.
My novel in the end is my work and it has to be my own voice. However, an editor can help me to edit my work and see things that I would have never noticed in my own work. Right now, as I revise my work, I have to balance what the editor is telling me with my own ideas about my work. I can’t let my pride get so big that I am not open to suggestions that allow my work and my writing to improve, but at the same time, I have to maintain a sense of my own voice and make sure that it doesn’t get lost.
In life, God has given me this amazing gift of life to do with as I want. I can do anything and He has given me the free will. At the same time, just like an editor, He is here to guide me. He gives me suggestions and clues to show me some of the better ways in which to live my life. That’s where free will and obedience come into play. I have to decide what balance there should be between my free will and my obedience to God. I don’t want my pride to get so big that I think I know better than God, but at the same time, I don’t want to limit myself and start to believe that I can’t just because some religion or book tells me so.
I have a feeling that I am going to struggle with the writer/editor relationship and it is something I will be working on for the rest of my writing career. In the same sense, I know I am going to struggle with my relationship with God. I’m not sure how it should work and I don’t know if I ever will, but I am willing to work at it. I think that relationship is worth the struggle.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
