I’m reading “The Next Best Thing”, Jennifer Weiner’s newest book. While it’s a slow mover, it is a good story and keeps my interest because the main character is a writer – for TV. It was all very interesting to see how shows are written and then finally make it onto our TV screen, but it was the title of the book that piqued my interest.
The Next Best Thing. Isn’t that what makes life? Isn’t that what wakes us up each morning and gives lift and hope to our day? It is for me. Those of you who know me personally, know I am a glass half full type of person. Everything, even the baddest of the bad, has a good side. Even when I’m in the throws of a life crisis, I wake up each day with anticipation of “The Next Best Thing” that God has in mind for my life. I cannot even imagine waking up without hope.
Some ask me how I can feel hope in the midst of utter devastation. The answer is simple. My life is not my own. God is at the top of my pyramid and everyone and everything in my life is below him. There were times in my forty plus years of walking with the Lord that I veered off this course and worshipped a person or a thing. (By worship, I mean letting something become paramount in my life, negating everyone and everything else, including God). I don’t do this intentionally, but intentional or not, it happens and God must deal with it. That’s why, even in the eye of the hurricane, I look forward to the “The Next Best Thing”.
Once God breaks through to me, and I give him his rightful place at the top of the pyramid, my life turns around. “The Next Big Things” start coming fast and furious, and I always wonder why I didn’t give in sooner, but internal life changes take time.
One of my favorite Bible verses that I personalize everyday is Proverbs 16:3:
“Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established.”
I write it, every morning in my morning pages like this:
“Today Lord I commit all my words and works to you so you may establish my thoughts.”
That is the verse that got me through depression, and keeps my mind positive, even today. It’s the most “moving on” verse in the entire Bible. Having God establish your thoughts keeps your mind in a good place. It keeps you on the lookout for “The Next Best Thing” – aka – hope.
And so, as another day goes by, tonight my sister arrives for a week long visit and I’m sure this is “The Next Best Thing”, and….I have written.
Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way Everyday:
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