I could not resist throwing yoke, easy, best, and light, into a scrambled headline.
I apologize. This post was meant to be serious!
2013 was an extraordinary year with high temptation to falter.
I launched four books in 2013 and we moved unexpectedly.
While writing a new book requiring a lot of research, I sorted possessions.
We added a family member, lost a loved dog, and traveled. I’m sure there was more (well, two writer’s conferences), but many of you have struggles. There’s no need to compare or compete.
In January 2013, an opportunity arose for me to write a novel that included Oswald Chambers. Had the publisher bought the book, meeting the deadline might have destroyed me!
On the other hand, sharing the yoke of writing pressure with the author of My Utmost for His Highest, helped. It also started years of joyous research and correspondence!
“If I have to spend a concentrated time writing a book quickly, I can think of no one better to spend it with than Oswald Chambers,” I told my agent.
My words turned out to be more prescient than I knew. Who knows how well I would have fared without his words from the May 25 My Utmost for His Highest?
The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best.
The best yoke?
Faith in God includes concepts like, “everything works together for the good for those who are in Christ Jesus.”(Romans 8:28)
Verses like that help when everything else feels crazy!
In his above comment about the life of faith, Chambers was discussing sin and the natural life.
In 2013, particularly during our ten-week hunt for a new home, I quoted OC continually.
I needed to remind myself not to settle for something that was simply good–I needed to wait for the best.
The whole devotional is worth reading because it teaches us to treat our lives lightly–my plans, my hopes, my dreams.
Everything needed to be given over to God. Once I accepted He and I worked together, living like oxen and a yoke, then I could watch with expectation.
We looked at many terrific houses. We explored many options.
God laughed and tugged me elsewhere.
We ended up in a spot we did not expect, in a type of house we were not looking to buy, and which was larger than we thought we wanted.
But it’s wonderful.
In the last nine years, four different people lived with us. We’ve been able to offer the house as a haven to some, a temporary place of rest for others.
Pure joy.
An easy yoke.
The other passage that encouraged me during that insane year came from an even better source: Jesus.
I still had plenty going on. The whirlwind of writing, marketing, packing, and sharing our home with 10 family members while househunting that summer meant I got discouraged by all the work.
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The yoke referred to by Jesus, of course, is the wooden tool that goes over the shoulders of a team of oxen.
For such a team to work in harmony, the two need to plod together in the same direction. If one ox decided to veer off the path, the wooden yoke hurt.
The pair might stumble and forward progression would stop. Calamity could occur.
Yokes, of course, are carved for specific animals.
The yoke is fitted to the shoulder blades so there is no rubbing. The oxen owner is concerned about his animals. They can’t work well together if their yoke is ill-fitting.
Similarly, I believe God has set a path for me to walk in. I share the yoke, the tool, to perform the job he has ordained with Him. I need to walk in harmony with Jesus to accomplish what he has sent in my heart to do.
The best yoke.
My prayer for several months was a combination of the two ideas.
I prayed for wisdom to walk in the path God called me to walk. To do that, I needed to ignore the siren call of the good on my way to accomplish His best for the task He ordained for us.
It took me much longer to finish the novel than I expected, thanks be to God.
A Poppy in Remembrance didn’t appear until November 11, 2018. The date marked the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War.
Like you, I’ve been given gifts, talents, abilities, and opportunities. My job is to use those in the way God directs for His glory.
When we yoke ourselves to the Creator of the Universe, who knows what we can accomplish?
Particularly when it’s easy. 🙂
Tweetable
The Best Yoke? Over Easy with a Light Burden! Click to Tweet
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?