Since we’re talking about the novella in Holiday Defenders, let’s talk about the guiding verse this week!
If you open the print version of Holiday Defenders, you’ll notice something. In production, my dedication and Susan’s dedication were switched. I told her a whole lot of people were going to have a whole lot of questions for her based on that. Oh, and my acknowledgments are embarrassingly long. I’m just going to go ahead and tell you that ahead of time.
One of the things I love about writing for Harelquin’s Love Inspired Suspense Line (and other Christian imprints) is the guiding verse. Like the different seasons of our lives, stories have a verse that sees you through. For the novella, it was Proverbs 16:9.
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)
Why that verse? I was thinking about Tyler Rainey’s character when I wrote it. He had his whole life planned out. He thought he knew exactly where he was supposed to be. And do you know what? The plan was good. Noble. Brave. But as it turned out, God needed him to be somewhere else, and it took the wisdom of a friend to show him that.
Someone once said to me, “Not all GOOD plands are GOD plans.” Believe me, I think of that often. There are a whole lot of wonderful ideas in the world, plans that even serve God selflessly. But they are not all His plans for us. Stepping in the wrong direction could keep us from being where God wants us most to do a job… and it might keep someone else from being where they need to be to do their God-given job. It’s not just us we mess up when we charge ahead with our own plans… it’s other people as well. In the novella, if Tyler had been where he planned to be… Kelly would be dead.
Ponder this one… sometimes what appears to be a failure can be the greatest success of your life.
Care to share about a time you jumped on a good plan that wasn’t a God plan?
-JB
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