Lady Gaga sings that she is on the edge of glory. She expresses her passion in song: “… I got a reason that you should take me home tonight. I need a man who thinks it right when it’s so wrong … I’ll be dancing in the flames tonight … another shot before we kiss the other side … I’m on the edge of glory …”
This world is full of chaotic, but appealing noises, and I’ve added my own to the cacophony. My head is brimming over with ideas. Addicted to my thoughts as most creative writers, I love my words. They have stirred in me like a drug and have taken me to higher places. Not to the edge of glory, but to other spheres and realms of this world as I know them.
My trusted friend said to me, “The Lord wants you to write from heaven’s position, about things that happen before they happen. Everything has already been set in the heavens and it’s just noise on earth. There’s a lot of confusion.”
I desire to bring a clear message from the Lord, but struggle to subdue my ideas to write from an authentic place of truth. My friend’s prophetic words asked me to step up to a higher ledge, an overlook that brings down fast-moving trucks and reckless drivers. Am I willing to lose my readers? Isn’t humor much more entertaining? No one wants to be preached to about their speed and the deer on the road.
It’s “beyond-myself” kind of writing — to write about ideas from God’s viewpoint that have not passed my mind but will cut through the confusion many feel today — world events that have happened or will happen according to the Bible. This “beyond-myself” writing is what He’s requiring of me.
Entering into God’s thoughts is like running to the edge of His glory, learning to fall far in love with Him, hanging on to a moment of truth and by faith being a risk-taker on the edge by writing about it.
Times when God said, “Jump,” I’ve looked toward the bottom and doubted Him. That’s when I’ve been bombarded with noises from my own insecurities. Did I hear from God? Will this offend someone? The subject is too explosive to handle, and I’ll be stepping over the edge and no one will be there to catch me.
I’ve broken through some of the sound barriers thrown up by the enemy and written God’s message. His words have always proven to be faithful even when I’ve had my doubts. Out of the blue He will direct someone through an email to tell me how much they appreciated my article about our family going through dementia or delivering a hard message that they needed.
Lady Gaga muses, “It’s hot to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous, I’m gonna run right to the edge with you where we can both fall far in love … I’m on the edge of glory and I’m hangin’ on a moment of truth. I’m on the edge, the edge, the edge.”
Her words show the raw edge of the world we live in. Knowing it’s right when it’s so wrong. This is the noise we compete with. We are asked to stand on a different edge of glory as resurrected believers. We don’t need another shot to kiss the other side tonight. We need a touch from Jesus to write from the other side.
As a writer of truth, I must be willing to jump when He says jump. I must be conformed to His words, share the passion of the Word, feel the rush and brush the dangerous. Instead of dancing in the flames of my own ideas, I will dance with Jesus.
To write from His glory, our work must be bathed in the power of the Holy Spirit, from an honest heart and a broken spirit. The power came through trials when I was tested by His word, when everything told me not to do it, but I knew that I knew God told me to do it, and He’d be with me. Albuquerque comes to mind — a move that could have destroyed our family, but I found that God is in Albuquerque, too.
This noise around us can also be very appealing; it carries a certain authority, and our flesh wants to rally in it and for it. We can tune our ears to hear what the flesh craves, or purposely listen to the lyrics from heaven and we will unashamedly sing God’s love song.
It’s not easy to write a message that others don’t want to hear, but God knows what people need. I usually have to learn it first. It comes with a lesson for me, sometimes a harsh lesson.
What the Lord asks is surrender, to wait until heaven speaks, then have the courage to write from the edge of His glory.
Lady Gaga has no problem showing her feelings. She takes courage on the keyboard of her talent, and performs before audiences who will marvel at her. She will sing to the world. “Tonight, yeah, baby. Right on the limit’s where we know we both belong tonight.” Yeah, baby.
Final brushstroke: As surrendered writers, we will know to whom our words belong and where we belong. When we listen for that whisper from God and know we are in His glory, His words will penetrate hearts and we will marvel at how wonderful He is for trusting us with His words.
When we write His message, hearts will change, and writers and readers will feel fire in their souls. They will be dancing in the flame of His light. Yeah, baby.
Send your comment to bettyslade.author@gmail.com.
Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of The SUN.
