Behind the Scenes: Author Eleanor Gustafson confronts spiritual opposition

Things have not gone smoothly with my upcoming novel, An Unpresentable Glory. The long search for a publisher was not unusual. Been there, done that. A computer scam, however, proved costly in money and time. Think—

• Changing bank accounts and credit cards,
• Informing autopay groups,
• Installing computer security programs,
• Disabling Trojan-Horse viruses.

Spent an hour on a scam report for me to circulate. The next morning, most of it had disappeared. Also, that morning, I noticed a visit from a banana-loving mouse. Clean the mess, find a trap, bait and wait. Four dead mice later…

You get the picture. Nothing earthshaking; just a redirection of time, focus, and energy. But why is this book a target?

I’m not holding up my novel as a world-changer, but it does deal with a serious subject: the misconstruction of sex and marriage that in recent years has infected even Christians. Has the marriage ceremony become merely a perfunctory prelude to the Really Important Event that follows? And how many wait for sex these days?

I believe my book makes a point—but all this junk! How do I handle it? And is my book the actual target? Should I be paying attention to other issues? Whichever, my only recourse is to plant my feet firmly in the soil of God’s loving purposes and keep my eyes fixed on HIM.

I also need to recognize that God’s enemy is my enemy. C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra is a classic example of spiritual warfare, when evil Un-man tries to subvert sinless “Eve” on the planet Venus. A brief quote:

“To tell you the truth, Ransom, “I’m getting more worried every day about the whole business. It came into my head as I was on my way here—“

“Oh, they’ll put all sorts of things into your head if you let them,” said Ransom lightly. “The best plan is to take no notice and keep straight on.”

 So that’s my battle plan: Keep straight on—in the Name and power of Jesus Christ.

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Watch for An Unpresentable Glory in July. Find me online at  www.eleanorgustafson.com/

or at www.amazon.com/author/eleanorgustafson