Old Dog

This week I tackled something new.  I dabbled my toe in the pool of self-publishing.  Knowing my limitations, I hired someone else to create a cover and to format the files.  Even so, I ran into glitches in the upload process.  It seems even a kindergartner can run rings around me in the field of computer technology.  Kids these days seem born knowing how to operate any and all electronics, while I'm reaching for my pen.
   I've a degree in English, yet I find the on-line instructions for filling in forms baffling and what do I do when the "submit" button doesn't work?  I'm much, much happier with a real live person talking me through the process, or, better yet, watching over my shoulder.  The FAQ's never help.  I am smart enough to deal with the obvious.  My problems are nearly always unique to me and my home computer.  Makes me wonder if I'm just resistant to change, or incapable of learning new tricks.  And that got me to thinking of others whose lives have been turned upside down just when they thought their course was set and they would slide into peaceful old age.
    Noah was 500 years old when God told him to build an ark on dry land!  God supplied pretty detailed instructions too. The ark was to be made of cypress wood, with rooms and coated with pitch.  God supplied the dimensions too, 300 cubits long and fifty wide and thirty high.  I have to wonder if Noah looked at those directions with puzzlement.  Did he have to get cypress wood?  Wouldn't 48 cubits do? This project was going to be expensive.  And all his neighbours laughed at him.  I'm sure there were times when Noah wished God hadn't called him to this new thing.
    Moses was 80 years old when God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses did his utmost to resist change.  He'd already had an adventuresome life and was content to tend sheep for his father-in-law.  First he complained that the Israelites would not believe him.  When the Lord solved that problem by giving Moses miraculous signs, Moses complained that he wasn't a good speaker. Even when God promised to give Moses the words, Moses begged that someone else should go instead.  Moses dragged his feet until the Lord sent Aaron with him.  Moses was set in his ways.  It took a burning bush, a rod turned to a serpent, a leprous hand and a well-spoken helper to persuade him to leave his comfort zone and follow God's command.
     But the ultimate example of a senior citizen having her life shaken up is Sarah.  She was ninety years old when God told her she would have a son.  Can you blame her for laughing?  She'd been barren for ever and God had ignored her prayers for a child.  Why wouldn't she think these strange visitors to her husband were joking?  But, in the end, Sarah obeyed and became the mother of a nation.  Like Mary, she understood that "with God, all things are possible."
     I wouldn't dream of comparing my small adventure with self-publishing to the great events of the Bible, but it heartens me to know that everything, even what seems impossible in our eyes, is under God's control.  Psalm 107 lays it out for us.  In the desert, in a shipwreck, in illness and in captivity, God hears our cries and delivers His people.
    Praise God for his wondrous ways, for His steadfast love and for His Son.

BTW if you want to see the results of my endeavours you can find it here on Smashwords. or here on Amazon.

    

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