Writing publicly as a Christian can be a scary undertaking.
What if people misunderstand? What if they disagree? What if they criticize my work or get offended?
What if the work I’ve submitted for consideration gets rejected?
What then?
It’s easy to get sucked into the whirlwind of doubt and insecurity.
I know that as I’ve been working through the revisions for my memoir, A Place to Land, I’ve second guessed just about every sentence. Eventually I realized that as a Christian writer, I can rest knowing that God has already planned which words will make it into the book and which ones will get cut according to His will and plan.
It was actually quite liberating to make this realization — as a Christian writer, when I’m acknowledging my utter dependence on the Lord and His guidance and not trying to do things in my own strength or apart from Him, I can trust God to use the words that appear on the screen for His glory.
Even if I regret certain aspects later, even if someone takes offense, even if I get another rejection letter from a certain publication — God has a perfect purpose for each line, each sentence, each word.
His ways are higher than ours, and He promises that His own Word that goes out does not return to Him empty or void, but accomplishes the purposes which He sets out for it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11).
Will He not also accomplish His purposes through us?Â
“Now may the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him . . . .” ~ Hebrews 13:20-21
And of course I couldn’t write a post on trust without sharing this song, Trust in You, by Lauren Daigle:
This is Day 5 of 31 Days in the Life of the Christian Writer, written in five minutes flat in conjunction with 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes.
Thank you, Kate, for these words of encouragement on TRUST in writing. You nailed it – all my second guessing what others will think. What if someone takes my words and twists them into something I didn’t mean? What if someone reads them through their life filter and are left hurting? What if… is paralyzing.
I went back to the very first scripture I memorized as a young adult. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trusting You Lord with all my heart and choosing to lean on You for understanding and not on my flesh…
Thank you for verifying and affirming me… and many others today!
Lisa
Love this song… and learning to trust
Wow! Hello Lord. This was my word for today’s blog post! Beautiful words, Kate. I won’t get uber-superstitious-nerdy and say that the #5 is also my lucky number. LOL
Thank you Kate. Your words fall into my wanting heart, wanting to trust and lean. Learning to surrender our writing is one of the most important things. I look forward to reading your memoir! Blessings, Julie