WHAT'S MY LINE?
BY DAVID H. GARRETT
PUBLISHED BY DAVID H. GARRETT AT SMASHWORDS
COPYRIGHT 2011 BY DAVID H. GARRETT
One thing most successful writers say is that a writer writes each and every day. I have always lacked that kind of discipline.  I have also lacked the persistence shown by those writers who went through hundreds of rejection slips before being published.
Just before I met my wife, I set myself a deadline: be published by such and such a date or give up. I gave up.
Such deadlines are formulas for failure. Persistence is the key to receiving what God has in store for us.  I am not saying you can get anything you want or accomplish anything you can imagine if you persist, but when God puts a calling on your life or points you in a specific direction, you must keep hammering away until you reach your goal.
Over my lifetime, I have had many failures, as well as a few big successes.  It seems like most of my “big successes” came easy.   There were a few real challenges, but in general, the things I excelled at were the things that came easy to me.
Conversely, it seems like all my failures came because I was ready to quit when the going got tough.  I always found an excuse to fail.  I believe that was because I was really just looking for one.
I now know that to succeed, I have to be persistent.  Galatians 6:9 tells us, “And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”  I  may fail some of His tests, but I must repent and take them over.  I have to stick it out when trials come.
Recently, my devotion times called to remembrance that we are to use the gifts He has given us.  I use my musical talents in the worship team at church.  I use my love for motorcycles to reach bikers.  But there are other gifts too.  I am a teacher.  I am a poet.  I am a writer.  I must  look for opportunities to  use these gifts for His glory.
Do I have to use them all, all of the time?  No!  But I must put them on the alter.  We don’t have to find something to do for God.  If we offer ourselves and our gifts to Him to use as He sees fit, He will provide the ideas, the openings, and the opportunities.
All too often people try to be and do things they are not called to do.  This only leads to grief.
The key to being  successful is being real.  People recognize fakes.  When you try to be or do something you have no calling in, you just spin your wheels.  It is confusing, frustrating, and unfulfilling.  When it’s right you know it.
That is not to say we  won’t face difficulties and setbacks.  But when you know that you are doing what He has called you to do, you may be confident that if you persist, you will succeed.  His word says, “I can do all things through Christ who strenghthens me.” (Philipians 4:13) It does not say I can do “anything.”  It says I can do all things.  Whatever He calls me to do.
What has He called you to do?  1 Corinthians 7:20 says, “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.” In other words, use the gifts, talents, and interests He has developed in you.  While He calls some people to special ministries, He always prepares them to accomplish His purpose.
Until He lays a “special” call on your life, abide in the ordinary ones he has already prepared you for.  Don’t try to make up something new to do.  Put yourself on the altar and say “Here I am, Lord.  Use me.”  He will.  You will be much happier than the person who spends a lifetime searching for his purpose in life.