By Iola Goulton
Connect with Iola at www.christianediting.co.nz and www.christianreads.blogspot.com
One of the most famous Shakespearian quotes is ‘To be or not to be, that is the question’. It’s from Hamlet, which I’ve never read so don’t really know the context, but I know that line. And I guess most of you have heard it as well. I read it recently, as part of a blog post, and it struck me that the world spends a lot of time living in the TO BE.
We ask children, ‘what do you want TO BE when you grow up?’ We ask their parents what they want their children TO BE.
In job interviews, we’re asked ‘where do you want TO BE in five years?’
TV advertising tries to tell us to use their product in order TO BE richer, prettier, more handsome, more clever, more … the list goes on. We even hear it in church. We’re asked if we want TO BE a Christian, which shows TO BE isn’t always bad … except when we focus on it too much.
And it’s easy to focus too much on the TO BE. As writers, we’re forever being told what we ought TO BE doing. Writing, promotion, revising, building a platform, editing, social media, reading craft books, marketing, reading books in our genre, more marketing, reading marketing books, reading books outside our genre … Sound familiar?
In grammar terms, TO BE is future perfect tense. TO BE is always talking about the future, about becoming something different. It seems TO BE (ha!) that the purpose of TO BE is to motivate us to try harder, to achieve more. But this always wanting more, always seeking more, always striving for more … TO BE often leaves us overburdened, stressed, dissatisfied, and looking for some way to ease the strain.
As Christians, we know the answer is the One Way, Jesus.
Jesus is the I AM. He says:
I AM the bread of life.
I AM the light of the world.
I AM the good shepherd.
I AM the way, the truth and the life.
I AM not of this world. I AM the resurrection and the life.
I AM the vine and you are the branches.
I AM in the Father and my Father is in me.
I AM is different from TO BE.
I AM is present perfect tense. I AM is now. I AM is resting in God. I AM is a relationship with Jesus. I AM is knowing the Holy Spirit is always here. We don’t have to wait. Waiting is TO BE, not I AM. I AM isn’t reaching, striving, seeking, trying TO BE counted as good enough against a standard we don’t understand and can never reach.
We don’t have to do any of that, because Jesus did that on the cross. Our role is to accept that gift. I AM reminds us we need to wait—not TO BE but to quiet ourselves so we can hear the I AM and be reassured and restored in Jesus.
Our role is to rest in the I AM, to accept the gift of IAM, to seek God’s will today and be obedient to that. Not to worry about the TO BE of tomorrow—God has the TO BE of our future under control, and it will all work out according to His plan … as long as we can focus on the I AM of today.
I hope and pray this thought encourages you today.
IOLA GOULTON lives with her husband, two teenagers and cat in the sunny Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, between Hobbiton and the Kiwifruit Capital of the World. She holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting and freelance editing, is active in her local church and plays in a brass band.
Iola is a reader, reviewer and freelance editor who is currently writing her first novel, contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist, and her first non-fiction book, which aims to help first-time authors navigate the changing world of Christian publishing.
We ask children, ‘what do you want TO BE when you grow up?’ We ask their parents what they want their children TO BE.
In job interviews, we’re asked ‘where do you want TO BE in five years?’
TV advertising tries to tell us to use their product in order TO BE richer, prettier, more handsome, more clever, more … the list goes on. We even hear it in church. We’re asked if we want TO BE a Christian, which shows TO BE isn’t always bad … except when we focus on it too much.
And it’s easy to focus too much on the TO BE. As writers, we’re forever being told what we ought TO BE doing. Writing, promotion, revising, building a platform, editing, social media, reading craft books, marketing, reading books in our genre, more marketing, reading marketing books, reading books outside our genre … Sound familiar?
In grammar terms, TO BE is future perfect tense. TO BE is always talking about the future, about becoming something different. It seems TO BE (ha!) that the purpose of TO BE is to motivate us to try harder, to achieve more. But this always wanting more, always seeking more, always striving for more … TO BE often leaves us overburdened, stressed, dissatisfied, and looking for some way to ease the strain.
As Christians, we know the answer is the One Way, Jesus.
Jesus is the I AM. He says:
I AM the bread of life.
I AM the light of the world.
I AM the good shepherd.
I AM the way, the truth and the life.
I AM not of this world. I AM the resurrection and the life.
I AM the vine and you are the branches.
I AM in the Father and my Father is in me.
I AM is different from TO BE.
I AM is present perfect tense. I AM is now. I AM is resting in God. I AM is a relationship with Jesus. I AM is knowing the Holy Spirit is always here. We don’t have to wait. Waiting is TO BE, not I AM. I AM isn’t reaching, striving, seeking, trying TO BE counted as good enough against a standard we don’t understand and can never reach.
We don’t have to do any of that, because Jesus did that on the cross. Our role is to accept that gift. I AM reminds us we need to wait—not TO BE but to quiet ourselves so we can hear the I AM and be reassured and restored in Jesus.
Our role is to rest in the I AM, to accept the gift of IAM, to seek God’s will today and be obedient to that. Not to worry about the TO BE of tomorrow—God has the TO BE of our future under control, and it will all work out according to His plan … as long as we can focus on the I AM of today.
I hope and pray this thought encourages you today.
IOLA GOULTON lives with her husband, two teenagers and cat in the sunny Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, between Hobbiton and the Kiwifruit Capital of the World. She holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting and freelance editing, is active in her local church and plays in a brass band.
Iola is a reader, reviewer and freelance editor who is currently writing her first novel, contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist, and her first non-fiction book, which aims to help first-time authors navigate the changing world of Christian publishing.
Iola's brand new website www.iolagoulton.com will be live shortly.
