Bride at work

"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" (Luke 17:7-10) 

The launch of my book "Bride Adorned" on Saturday 8 March, has come and gone and I have had very little time to sit down and reflect on not only the day itself, but the whole journey of this book. I went to church on Sunday to savor again the beautifully decorated church...the drapes and flowers, the purples, gold and white depicting not only a wedding scenario but also the majesty of our King and His heavenly Kingdom. That was the last chance.

Coming home after church on Sunday, there was some cleaning up to do, lunch to cook and serve and preparations to make for a precious boy that was going to stay with us for a couple of weeks. Sunday afternoon brought the news of clients arriving end of week and the realization of so much work to be done around camp in preparation for their visit...not forgetting the cleaning up of the church on Monday, the monthly Value Added Tax to be handed in, the normal school and kid's activities...

My heart found a moment to ask, "Lord, could I not have a little breathing time, just a day or two?" I also remembered a similar question the week before the launch. It was one of the hottest and most humid weeks ever in Hoedspruit. Working day after day in the church to get everything ready was challenging and left us wet and sticky! One afternoon after the others have left, I found myself on my knees washing the carpet where the pots we brought in had left mud marks. Sweat was dripping from my forehead and my knuckles were bruised. Again I had a quick moment with God: "Lord, I just wanted to pen down the message You gave me...I just wanted to write a book and here I am, washing carpets on a most hot and humid day!"

Looking back now on the two years since I started to write the book, there has been an incredible amount of very hard work! I am sure every person who has written a book can testify that it entails millions more than you can ever imagine! Many lonesome hours, stolen hours, tired hours, tearful hours. Lots of moments when you want to give it all up, when all the odds are against you, when everybody tells you how impossible this venture is and when the demands put on you from all sides of life which did not come to a halt when you decided to write a book, leave you utterly exhausted!

My complete wish and dream was that when I finally put the last dot to the last page, that someone would come and take the book from me and do what needs to be done further. I would sit back, job done and dusted. Haha, it did not work out that way...almost never does! While writing a book is one thing, publishing a book is a complete different thing! And it is a vulnerable place to be! You now have to clinically sell your heart's writing to someone. Convince them that it will bring in the money, that it will be their worth while, that it will do better that all the other books on the market. Yes, the publishing world is as brutal as this. The writer's work is still not done and so you continue on.

Then one day, you find yourself with a book in hand and you are delighted and you think, "Ah, now I can sit back...work well done." But no! The people out there must be made aware of your book! I have the incredible privilege of a small and encouraging town and a great church family that embraced me and helped me put together a beautiful event for the launch of my book. It would take the shape of a wedding...and yes, a wedding also takes a lot of hard work and the help of a lot of people, and cleaning up afterwards!

When I read the above Scripture from Luke yesterday, I was reminded of this great truth...

we are a bride at work.

And rightly so! We are to live our lives, do our physical daily tasks as if for the Lord and all the while, we also have some spiritual work to do...good works that He has prepared for us in advance!

I want to remind us of Ruth and Esther...and the bride in Revelation. We have such romantic ideas about Ruth and Esther and a bride. But careful reading of Ruth and Esther will reveal that they had a tough time before they became the 'brides'. Ruth had to glean from the morning till the evening day after day. Esther had to enter a palace not knowing whether she would end up in the harem, forgotten and robbed of freedom and life. When they had found favor in the eyes of their husbands-to-be, their work was still not done. Ruth had to ask Boaz to put his garment over her. She had to put herself out there. Esther's work did not stop when she became queen...it had only begun. She had to put her life out there and she did not plead for her people once, but over and over and she had to work with Mordecai, writing letters and giving out decree's. In the same way, in Revelation 22 which is the last chapter of the Bible, we read these words:

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'"

A bride at work with the Spirit of God.

And so we find ourselves hard at work there where we have been placed, washing carpets, doing our daily jobs and all the time being a vessel, a body, a temple for the Holy Spirit doing His work through us! What a joy, a thrill and a privilege to work with God!

May you all be strengthened and blessed to be hard at work right where God has placed His precious bride!!

Our reward is in heaven.

God bless until I am back with all the photo's of a most amazing day!

Lize