For the first five years of my independent writing business, I used a residential line. At first, this was okay, since I kept scrupulous tax records differentiating between my business and personal calls. When my husband-to-be and I got engaged, however, I decided to simplify my paperwork by installing a separate line for my business. It did not occur to me at the time that there were two different kinds of phone lines — business and residential — and there was a difference in price between them. Silly me.

As I continued to work and plan our wedding, I also planned my transition to my new home, including ordering my new (residential) line. Midway through the ordering process, however, it became clear that there were two types of lines, and the business line was the one I should have ordered. When I discovered the cost differential, however, it took me a moment to recover from the shock. I consequently excused my decision to stick with the residential line by telling myself that I was really too busy planning the wedding to start over now. I decided to finish up as it was and make the transition to the business line...well, later. Three years passed, and I still hadn't gotten around to it.

I never really forgot about the need to get a business line, though, even though I tried. I rationalized it as best I could — I was working from home, after all, not operating as a large store in a big building, strip mall, or office complex — but it just wouldn't go away. When I decided to publish my book, Before God's Wrath: The Bible's Answer to the Timing of the Rapture, a venture that I had said was God's, I couldn't ignore it any longer. As I prepared the book for publication and prayed for God's leading in my new venture, the hypocrisy began to weigh on me. How could I ask God for His leading and direction, when in the very livelihood of my business, I was breaking the law?

Most people would argue that the infraction was minor, but in James 2:10, it says that if we are guilty of breaking one commandment, even a small one, we are guilty of all. Hebrews 6:6 also tells us that each time we commit a willful, unrepentant sin, we are crucifying Jesus Christ our Lord afresh. God is a holy God, I knew, and it was something I preached to all, but in the secret place of my heart, I knew that I was willfully unsubmitted in this area simply because I didn't want to pay a few extra dollars a month. I also knew that God does not look at the size of the infraction. He looks at the heart, and a willfully rebellious heart that keeps a residential line in a business situation is the same willfully rebellious heart that commits any other sin.

As the day approached for me to send the book to the printer, my sense of conviction weighed heavier and heavier, but still I fought it. I finally broke down after listening to a tape of an evangelist who had visited my friend's church for evening revival services the week before. I'd been there for part two, but I'd missed part one, which turned out to be on the fear of the Lord. How many times do we rely on the forgiveness of the Lord, he asked, to excuse our sin? Instead of using His grace to escape sin, we use it as an excuse to continue in it. But the fear of the Lord, he reminded me (well, the whole audience, but it sure felt like just me), is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). I was cut to the quick. The next day, I called the telephone company and switched the line. It was like a weight had been lifted.

A Little Help From a Friend

As part of my new business line services, I got a listing in the Yellow Pages under “writers.” For me, I thought this was superfluous, since my writing is business-to-business for national magazines and manufacturing companies in the graphic arts industry. No one would look for me in the local Yellow Pages, but I figured that it couldn't hurt. You never know.

No, you certainly don't. This week, my telephone rang. When I answered, there was an awkward silence on the other end of the line, then a hesitant voice. It was a man whom I'll call Rich. He explained to me that he'd been hurt in an accident and could no longer ply his trade, which required physical labor. He was looking for a new line of work and wanted to try his hand at writing, which was something he'd always been good at but never pursued. Could I give him some advice? He'd tried everywhere, writing to people, sending samples, and asking for information everywhere he could. The response he'd gotten was nothing. He was clueless where and how to get started, and now he'd come to me.

I spent about an hour with him, trying to get him started the best I could, pointing him to associations, books, and other avenues that he could use to try to break into the area of writing he was interested in. Then came the question that I never know how to answer.

“How did you get started?” he asked. “How did you become successful?”

There are lots of freelance writers in the world. Not many of them make a living at it like I do. So I get asked this question from time to time, and even though I'm an evangelist at heart, I'm never sure how to answer because the truth isn't what people expect to hear. But this time, like always, I gave it anyway. I told him I wasn't a good example, that I hadn't chosen to become a writer like he had, so I hadn't marketed myself, gone through the channels, and developed my career through any sort of defined plan. The Lord had directed my path, often unbeknownst to me, and I owed it all to Him.

“Really?” he said, perking up. “I kind of feel that way, too. I'm kind of a religious man myself.”

We've All Got Religion

This is a phrase that always puts me on alert. When people say they're religious, it often means that they go to church, follow the Golden Rule, and pray. But there is a big difference between practicing religion and having a living, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Too many people say they are religious, but they don't read their Bibles, they aren't submitted to Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and they really have no personal relationship with God whatsoever. As I listened to Rich outline his religious convictions, this described his case exactly. But unlike many people I talk to, who seem perfectly content in this quasi-relationship with God, Rich seemed disturbed by it. He wanted to know why God hadn't spoken to him, why it seemed like, as the song says, his “prayers bounced right off the ceiling.”

This opened the opportunity for me to share with him what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ — the need to acknowledge our sin, to repent of this sin, and to ask Jesus to forgive us, by the power of His shed blood on the cross, and to come into our lives as Lord and Savior. I gave him the short version of my testimony, which he listened to with interest. He'd tried that in the past, he said, but it really hadn't worked. “Maybe I didn't do it right,” he mused. I asked about his devotional practices since he gave his life to the Lord — did he seek to find Christ's will for his life? Did he read his Bible? No, he said, he hadn't opened his Bible in years. Mystery solved.

I shared with him that, when we come to God, we have to come to God His way, not ours. And the way that God has chosen is first through Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and then to communicate with us and to maintain that personal relationship through His Word. For Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will follow My commandments” (John 14:15). What are His commandments? Not just the Golden Rule, but every word of scripture. How can we know what God's commandments are, I asked, if we don't read His Word?

“You make a good point,” he said. “It's funny that you say that, because somebody gave me a Bible a few weeks ago.” Yes, funny isn't it?

My Best Career Advice Ever

As we talked, Rich shared with me his concerns about his career, what he was to do to support his wife and family now. Everything he had tried had gotten him nowhere. Now I was about to give him the best career advice I could — there is no fear for those who live in Christ Jesus and allow Him to direct their lives. I quoted Romans 5:28, “All things work for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” There were two others I probably should have cited: Psalm 37:3-5 and Matt. 6:18-33, but I didn't think of them at the time. I encouraged him to find a quiet room somewhere and begin reading, starting with the gospel of Matthew or John, then backing up and reading the rest of the gospels, then continuing through the rest of the New Testament. I encouraged him to commit his life to the Lord in a new way, one filled with submission, love, and obedience.

“If you are truly seeking Jesus,” I said, “He will be faithful to reveal Himself to you, because He has said, `My words shall not return unto Me void, but shall accomplish what I please'” (Isaiah 55:11). I suggested that he read the gospels before buying any books or contacting any other organizations because that this would be the best place he could possibly get started in his new writing career.

As we concluded our conversation, Rich promised that he would read the gospel of John right away, that afternoon. I asked if I could pray with him, right there on the phone, and he said yes.

Looking for resources to help you defend your faith? Check out our recommended reading list!