Write from the Deep

26 – The Lovely Deep

Podcaster MacKenzie Monroe, the creator of BoldTurquoise.com and Cultivating the Lovely, talks with us about how we can cultivate the lovely in even the darkest, deepest places. It’s all about attitude and focus! So join us for a fun—and lovely—discussion.

 

Scriptures

“For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” Psalm 149:4 (NKJV)

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord.” Psalm 84:1-2

 

Where to find MacKenzie on the web

Find MacKenzie Monroe at BoldTurquoise.com.

Find MacKenzie’s podcast, Cultivating the Lovely, at her website and on iTunes and Stitcher.

 

We Want to hear from you!

What can you do to cultivate the lovely in your life?

 

Tweetable

You can cultivate the lovely in deep places!

25 – Learn to Love the Waiting Room!

Waiting is so, so hard! Especially when we’ve worked like crazy to get our part done and now have to wait on a response. From agents. From editors. From publishing committees. But waiting doesn’t have to drive you crazy. In fact, being in a “waiting room” can be an opportunity. So get ready to thrive while you wait!

Show Notes

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

* We wait in strength—decisively. And we wait with heart—encouraged.

“In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly.” Psalm 5:3

* We wait expectantly. Not anxious or driven, but expectant. God is at work, and His ways and path for us are perfect.

“But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall, I will rise. Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.” Micah 7:7-8

* We wait with confidence that God sees us, He hears us, and He is with us. We’re not forgotten, even in the deepest places.

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.” Psalm 130:5

* We wait with hope, and our hope is in Him and in His word. Not in our writing, our agent, or a publisher. This is about God’s glory. Not ours.

“Yes, Lord, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.” Isaiah 26:8

* We wait in obedience to His command to wait. When we’re doing things in obedience, it helps us cultivate the desire for His glory instead of ours.

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 64:4

* We wait with the understanding that He will accomplish His will in us, in His ways, and in His time.

Fun Stuff

New from Write from the Deep…

Personalized Video Chats!

Does your writers’ or crit group need an extra dose of wisdom or encouragement? Are you looking for affordable speakers to uplift and guide you through the deep places of your writing journey? Host a group Skype call with Karen and Erin! We’d love to put our experience and expertise to work for you in a personalized video chat. Just send your questions beforehand, and we’ll give you practical tips, tools, and answers. And we’ll take real-time questions as well! Set up a Personalized Writers’ Workshop today for our special introductory price. Spaces are limited, so book your chat soon!

Join us at the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference on August 15-18, 2016!

We’re teaching a Write from the Deep coaching session this year, and we’d love to have you there! This is a terrific conference with a wonderful selection of writing teachers, editors, and agents. AND it’s hosted in the beautiful Pacific Northwest! Learn more here!

Craft Matters Videos!

You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers!

These short videos are all about CRAFT, because it MATTERS! We’ll give you tips and tools to help you take your writing to the next level. Plus, we’ll talk frankly about the publishing industry.

How do you find these videos? You have to be a newsletter subscriber to get the links we send out in the newsletter. You can subscribe by clicking here!

We want to hear from you!

24 – Worry Is NOT Your Friend

Don’t let worry weigh you down. Instead, stop it in its tracks. Don’t think it’s possible? Think again. These simple truths and practical tips will equip you to turn away from worry and rest in the truth that you have Someone on your side who is bigger and stronger than any worry you face.

Show Notes

Worry Is a Parched Place

* Rest in inner nourishment for outer circumstances.

Jeremiah 17:5-6

“5 Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. 6 They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.

* Rest in a better picture of who God is and how much He cares for us.

Luke 12:6-7

“What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”

Luke 12:25-28

“Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”

* Replace questioning God’s commitment to us with a commitment to patience and steadfastness.

Psalm 32:8

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

* Replace devaluing God’s power with awe for God.

Romans 1:20

“For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse.”

“When the grandeur of God is not in our eyes and filling our hearts, we will live as if it is all up to us, always working more and trying harder.” Paul David Tripp, in the book Awe.

Fun stuff

Don’t forget about our giveaway!

Check out our newsletter for details on how you can win a copy of Mary DeMuth’s latest book Worth Living: How God’s Wild Love for You Makes You Worthy. Thanks, Baker Books, for supplying 3 copies!

New from Write from the Deep…

Personalized Video Chats!

Does your writers’ or crit group need an extra dose of wisdom or encouragement? Are you looking for affordable speakers to uplift and guide you through the deep places of your writing journey? Host a group Skype call with Karen and Erin! We’d love to put our experience and expertise to work for you in a personalized video chat. Just send your questions beforehand, and we’ll give you practical tips, tools, and answers. And we’ll take real-time questions as well! Set up a Personalized Writers’ Workshop today for our special introductory price. Spaces at this price are limited, so book your chat today!

23 – God’s Wild Love

No matter what anyone says, you can’t earn God’s love. His love for you is deeper, stronger, and wilder than anything you can imagine. No struggle, no lie, no self-message can change that truth.  If you have trouble believing it, then hold on to your hat! Guest Mary DeMuth is here to tell you all about that wild love—and identify the lies that keep you from embracing it.

Show Notes

What does the deep mean to you?

It means understanding that God is with you no matter what you are going through, and then cultivating the ability to see him in the dark times. God revealed to the Apostle Paul that he would have to suffer. A lot. God disciplines all those He loves, and He has a purpose and story for each of us. The thing is, we may not understand those things. There is a purpose in suffering, and the key for us to grow during those hard times is to be tenacious and cling to God in the midst of the difficulty.

What makes you keep going when you’re in those deep places?

The Sunday school answer is always Jesus, but I think it’s also choosing to reflect back on the goodness of God and to recount His faithfulness. It’s the ability to recognize when you are spiraling downward in your brain.  At those times, every single bad thing can look 4,000 times worse and the blessings shrink because can’t see them. So we need to get our focus back on God. That changes everything.

When did you first come to understand that you were wildly loved?

That moment I met Jesus. But my understanding has continued to deepen. There have been valleys of misunderstanding and mountains of higher understanding. Jesus rescued me when I was 15 years old and ready to take my life. I had experienced sexual abuse, abandonment, divorces of parents, death of a parent, loneliness, and drug abuse in the home…so many crazy things!  I would look down at my feet and think, Why I am occupying this space on earth? What is the point of me being here other than to be completely neglected or taken advantage of? Being a fatherless girl, losing my father when I was 10 years old, and then having several other fathers cycle through my life, I really didn’t come to Jesus with a sense of my sinfulness. It was more like I needed a father Who would never leave me. So when I met Him, that’s what He was to me.

Talk a little bit about your book, Worth Living, and what motivated you to write it?

That little girl who looked at her feet? She grew up, and she still struggles,  still wonders why she’s here and what the point is and if God loves me. It’s a titanic struggle for me. One day a friend saw that I was believing a lot of lies about myself. She handed me these 3×5 cards that were bound together and told me to write the lies I was believing on one side, and then to pray and ask God to show me the Scripture that combatted the lie on the other side. It didn’t come right away. It’s not like you sit down and do this in one day. Even discerning the lies was very hard because I was so inside of myself. So I asked other friends and they were quick to say, “Well, you don’t think you are pretty.” Or, “You don’t think you are lovable. And you think you have to prove your worth by doing a bunch of stuff.” So that formed the framework of the book: Ten basic lies that women tend to believe, and ten truths that combat them.

 

Go to marydemuth.com to print a free list of the 10 lies and the 10 truths to combat them.

 

Is there any one of the lies that has tempted you to give up and say I’m done?

That I have to prove my worth by doing a bunch of stuff. As a writer, I try to do all the right things, but I cannot control the sales of my book. I cannot control my success. That has been so hard.

22 – Count It All Joy

What was James thinking when he told us to “count it all joy” when we encounter trials? How can trials and struggles bring us joy? Well, in a way you never imagined!

Show Notes

James 1:2 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”

We first need to talk about what this isn’t saying:

* The Bible is NOT telling us to be happy. Happiness and joy are two very different things. Happiness is temporary, joy is a foundation. Happiness is based on circumstances, joy is based on trust.

* “Pure joy, or “all joy,” is meant in terms of intensity—as in unalloyed or complete, and it’s not meant to be exclusive. James is not saying we should have no response other than joy. We’re not commanded to never be saddened by difficulties. But he is saying there is also occasion for this pure, unalloyed joy, a deeper joy, in the midst.

The way to start finding this deeper joy is to fix our focus on God’s purpose for traumas and trials. Under the strain of trails, we get a clearer picture of our faith. It shows its true colors. And that’s a gift.

 

What Are the Joys?

1. When we lose those things – our health, our job, our home – it helps us understand what we truly value…and what is secondary. So that’s part of the gift, part of the joy that James is talking about. These trials make us drill down into our values and learn what really matters to us.

2. Trials equip us to minister to others. They make us tender and gentle. The deep places we endure aren’t necessarily about us! God uses these times to refine us, to tenderize us, and to help us use our own experiences to help others. And that is another joy. We can rest in the truth that NOTHING is wasted with God. Not only that, but with every trial and struggle, we can know that God is going to use it to make us better able to minister to others. Together we all help each other. We uplift each other. This is the true community of suffering. That as we suffer, we are open and vulnerable and willing to let God use even this very deep place to love others.

3. The crucible of suffering produces endurance. The testing in these trials isn’t to see if we have faith, but to purify that which already exists. It’s the process of refining silver or gold, and that refining produces endurance. We learn to remain faithful to God over the long haul because of the difficulties we suffer.

4. Endurance produces spiritual integrity for us as believers. Not just for us personally, but for the community. We can’t forget that we’re not just a community of suffering, but we’re also a community that is the bride of Christ. While we suffer now, we need to remember where we’re going with all this. The end game is the bride being perfected and living eternally to glorify God.

 

What can we do today to start considering it all joy?

* Step back and understand the point of it all. Take a breath. And don’t try to pretty it up. Be honest with God and with others about what you’re feeling and struggling with.

* Remember that it’s okay to struggle and sob. We’re not commanded to feel only joy. But we still need to keep the truth of God’s purpose tucked into our heart so that grief doesn’t turn to despair.

* Focus on the truth of God’s character. KNOW Him. With every doubt or spark of anger at Him, test it by sharing it with Him and with those you know will speak truth to you. Go ahead and feel your feelings…but don’t make the mistake of using those feelings as a basis for making decisions or deciding what is and isn’t true. You can’t trust feelings. But you can trust the foundation of biblical truth.

* Ask for God’s help in revealing His perspective of us as He refines us. God’s purposes will be achieved, but His way,

21 – Author Care

Too often we authors focus on craft care and career care, and forget all about author care. It’s more than just a “good idea” to take care of yourself, it’s a necessity if you’re going to do this writing task with excellence. Don’t kid yourself that you don’t need to take care of your needs. Remember, God’s #2 command is to love others as we love ourselves. So join us as we discuss how to take care of your most important asset as a writer: YOU!

 

Show Notes

As writers we get too busy doing. We get so busy writing, trying to meet deadlines, and getting that word count in, that we forget about savoring the gift of writing. Of savoring the gift of what God has called us to do, and nurturing that gift within us so we can write with creative passion instead of writing to meet a word count.

 

Tips for nurturing our writing hearts and taking care of the Greatest asset that God has given you: yourself!

1. Start and end your day with God.

* Consider reading devotionals. We highly recommend Streams in the Desert by Lb common, the revised version

* Focus on Scripture first thing in the morning.

* Focus on the Creator’s creation, the beauty around you. Take a walk, sit on the porch with a cup of coffee. Take time to soak it in.

 

2. Understand that it’s okay to take time to nurture yourself. To take moments, or time away from writing to make sure your feeding your spirit in other ways.

* You might need more sleep, or to read, or walk, or garden, or whatever you need.

* Remember that writing is a gift to be enjoyed and savored with God.

 

3. Stay away from things that take away your ability to nurture yourself.

* Avoid comparing yourself to others. It puts your focus on yourself and others rather than God.

* Your writing journey is for you and God. You can’t take someone else’s journey. Enjoy the journey God has for you.

 

4. Set realistic goals—large or small—and reward yourself for faithfulness. Or if setting goals doesn’t work for you, then don’t.

 

5. Even if you’re not feeling tired and burnt out, continue to nurture yourself. Keep making emotional deposits in your emotional bank.

 

6. Take a spiritual retreat—a few minutes, hours, or even days. Plan a specific time to get away and listen to God.

 

7. Plan to have Sabbath days. Get away from work for a whole day.

 

8. Live in the moment.

* Be aware of the delights in the moments that God gives you, whether it’s your dog coming up to brush his nose against your hand, or someone to coming up to hug you, or a phone call from a friend.

* Don’t look on these moments as interruptions. Look on them as living in a moment that for some reason God has brought to you, and take delight in it.

 

9. Understand that author care often requires a sacrifice.

* Be willing to take the steps you need to.

* Plan ahead.

* Enlist the help of friends and family to make this a priority.

 

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

 

Don’t forget about our giveaway!

Courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers, we’re giving away a copy of Tyndale’s Inspire Bible, featured on the last podcast. Check our May 23rd newsletter for details on how to enter!

We want to hear from you!

What do you do that nurtures you? That restores you?

 

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20 – When the Deep Never Seems to End

Have you ever felt like the deep will never end? Like you barely make it through one tough place and another one begins? Well, you’re not alone! Let gifted author Robin Lee Hatcher, who has known many deep places in her life and career, share words of truth and encouragement to help you dwell in the deep—and come out with the sure knowledge that God is with you every step of the way!

 

Show Notes

Best-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcher is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. Winner of the Christy, the RITA, the Carol, the Inspirational Reader’s Choice, and many other awards, she is also a recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from both Romance Writers of American (2001) and American Christian Fiction Writers (2014). Robin is the author of over 70 novels and novellas, and she knows what it’s like to be in the deep.

 

Top Quotes From Robin

What the Deep Means to Me…

“I’ve had very deep places with the Lord, both that I would consider highs, even though it’s a deep place, and sometimes they’re deep because they’re hard times to walk through. But I’ve come to believe through my Christian walk that those deep places are what make us strong and what make us more like Christ. How can we want to deny them or turn them away? We have to spend time in those deep places so that we can reach the high places.”

 

What led to the writing of The Forgiving Hour…

I didn’t know if I had the talent or the courage to write the book…My first husband had multiple extramarital affairs…but the first affair was what the story was based upon. One day the mistress came to our house to pick up my husband, so I saw her…Three months after that, we put our marriage back together as best as unbelievers could. Three years after that, I was attending a Christian conference… a young woman came over and joined us at our table… suddenly I realized that this was the mistress. I knew she’d come to the table knowing who I was, I just didn’t know why she’d come to the table…I would love to tell you that I was very spiritual for the whole conference and just soaked it all in, but the honest truth is that all I knew was where this gal was seated throughout the day. When I went home that day, I spent the night asking God why she had come to the table… About 3 o’clock in the morning, God spoke to me very clearly and said she was there because I needed to forgive her. I said to the Lord, “I forgave her, I forgave him, everything is fine, fine, fine!” He said, “No, she needs you to tell her you forgive her.” I stood up, and I raised my fist to the ceiling and I said, “You’re God. You tell her.” But by 6 o’clock in the morning God had His way with me…I found her at the conference the next day… I said to her, “I know who you are and I forgive you.” I can’t tell you how much that changed her life, but I know that it changed mine. It freed me forever from ever holding onto bitterness…

God had to do a lot of healing in my heart and in my life to prepare me for that place where I could actually tell that story. I had to be willing to wait but also to hear when it was time.

 

What led to the writing of A Promise Kept…

I married Jerry in 1989. Unbeknownst to me he was an alcoholic… I had no understanding of addictions at that time…It took about three years for things to get so bad for him that there was no hiding it from me. We were married for 17 years with alcoholism being the predominant feature of our marriage… There were many very painful hard times…when you’re married to an alcoholic, it’s a lonely place to be.

The first time Jerry went into the DTs it drove me back to the foot of the cross…I held on to the foot of the cross until I could feel the slivers in the palms of my hands. One of the things that I have learned is that’s exactly where ...

19 – How to be Offensive

In a world seemingly without absolutes, Christians are being put on the spot more and more when they stand for God’s truth. How do we balance God’s command to love one another with the world’s accusation that we’re being hateful or intolerant? There’s only one way, and that’s to hold fast, in our lives and our writing, to the example Christ gave us of using His word to pierce the world’s lies.

SHOW NOTES

In a world that values being politically correct, that is tolerant only of those who agree with its ideas, that counts not offending anyone as a badge of honor, Christians must walk a rocky path. Speaking the truth is labeled being “narrow-minded,” and, the worse sin possible: intolerant. But is that the way Jesus operated? The way the prophets operated?

Not by a long shot.

“We are not in a power struggle but in a truth struggle.” Marty Brown

The struggle for truth has been around since Adam and Eve. Just look at Genesis 3:1-5:

“…Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Jesus faced the same truth struggle:

Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but He sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:42-44)

If that isn’t offensive, I don’t know what is. Right before this Jesus basically called the crowd of Jews illegitimate children (including Pharisees, etc.)

Then there’s Jesus’ hearing with Pilate:

“…the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” said Pilate… (John 18:37-38)

Far to many people today respond as Pilate did:

“What is truth?“

“That’s your truth, not mine.”

But Jesus made it clear that there is no “my truth” or “your truth.” There is only Truth—God’s truth as revealed in Scripture. Look at John 17:17 “…Your word is truth.”

Still today, our culture is determined to undermine and redefine truth as relative instead of absolute. It’s nothing new. But our culture has caved on this.

Let’s take a minute to talk about the word of God. Look at Paul’s list of the armor of God in Ephesians 6:14-17: Belt of truth (that’s listed first!), breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit—which is the Word of God. Truth again. Listed last like a bookend.

Not only are we wearing a belt of truth for defense, if you look, the sword of the spirit is the only offensive weapon.

Roman soldiers used the Gladius Pompeii. It was made for thrusting. A short sword 21-22 inches, that soldiers spent hours sharpening, honing, so they could be extremely precise with it in battle.

Logos is often used for word—it means general statements or messages, and it’s also used in John 1:1. But Logos is not used here. Ephesians 6:17 says Rhema—specific, precise, individual words and particular phrases.

As the Roman soldiers, we are to be specific, precise with our use of the sword of the spirit,

18 – The Hazards of Obeying God’s Call

Have you ever felt a call from God to step out—really step out—but as soon as you obey, things seem to go wrong? And keep going wrong! What can you do when God’s call takes you not just into the deep, but into a wasteland that you fear will be your undoing? Susan May Warren faced just such a situation—one that put her in emotional and physical danger. Join us as she shares the life-changing truths God taught her in that deep place—truths that will inspire and change you.

Show Notes

Have you ever felt a call from God to step out—really step out—but as soon as you obey, things seem to go wrong? And keep going wrong! What can you do when God’s call takes you not just into the deep, but into a wasteland that you fear will be your undoing? Susan May Warren faced just such a situation—one that put her in emotional and physical danger. Join us as she shares the life-changing truths God taught her in that deep place—truths that will inspire and change you.

Susan May Warren—RITA award-winning novelist of over thirty novels, five-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA finalist, multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and winner of the ACFW Carol Award—has spent plenty of time in the deep, both figuratively, and literally, when God took her and her family to Russia. Siberia, to be exact. She talks frankly about how that’s affected her and her writing.

 

Key Quotes from Susan May Warren

The Deep Dark…

“It was often 40 below where we lived…it took a lot of energy to live in Russia. I thought my husband and I were going to be great missionaries, but what happen was he was a great missionary for the Lord, and I was a stay-at-home mom taking care of three small children. We lived in a high-rise apartment nine stories up. We had no running water during the daytime. We had no phone. We often didn’t have electricity. To go shopping I would have to put my kids literally on my body, a front pack and a backpack, and a sled…I got depressed very quickly. I wasn’t sowing seeds for the Lord, I was washing cloth diapers in the bathtub.”

“It was in that dark place that God started speaking to my heart, saying, ‘Why are you here? Are you here for me? Are you here for your own personal glory?’ I had to get to that place where I was all stripped away. Where I would say okay God, what do you want from me? Is it to stay home and be a great mom? And of course that was part of it. Part of it was supporting my husband. But that was also where God said to me, ‘I would like you to write.’”

 

Where All Great Novels are Written from…

“I soon discovered that all great novels are written from that emotional place inside that you might not have all the answers to, but as you start to write the novel, and as you start to work out those emotions and those truths on the page, the Lord starts to reveal stuff to you. That’s when I really started my journey from the darkness, from the deep, to understanding of what God was doing in my life.”

“If we come to a novel with all the answers, then we limit God’s revelation of truth in our lives as we write the novel.”

“I felt very abandoned, very overwhelmed, very alone. So I went to God and I said, ‘Help me, rescue me fix this’… and God said, ‘I’m going to teach you what a great romance is about.’”

“When I write romance, it’s not just about the romance between the two people… it’s also about the romance between God and his people.”

 

The Dangers…

“We had crazy things happened to us in Russia… we were vandalized numerous times with break-ins. My husband’s shoulder was broken because he was mugged. I was held hostage once for about a day. One of my kids had his appendix out in a hospit...

17 – When You’ve Done Everything Right and Things Still Go Wrong

What if you’ve done everything right—you’ve tackled social media, you’ve refined your skills as a writer, you’ve done all the things your mentors and editor and agent and publisher tell you to do…and your career still doesn’t take off? In this podcast, we’ll address the feelings, and the black-hole reality, this situation creates. And together we’ll explore solutions that will take you beyond the black hole into the light of renewed passion and purpose.

Show Notes

What if you’ve done everything right, and things still go wrong?

We all feel that way at times, whether it’s in writing, our life, our job, our family, this is what happens. Writers can relate to that in terms of their career: you feel that all your hard work doesn’t make a difference. It could be when you pour your heart and soul into a message, and it’s amazing, yet the book doesn’t go anywhere. Or authors who were once best sellers are no longer getting the same sales. Or when a contract is cancelled. Or even with an award winner, the books don’t sell, and so the publisher drops them.

We are doing everything right, and everyone agrees that we’re doing the right things, and yet we don’t see the results we hoped for. We then get disappointed, or feel like everything we’ve done is wasted. We feel discouraged. On the heels of that discouragement, frustration and anger can seep in.

 

Let’s look at a Biblical man whose life seems to be the quintessential example of “Life’s not fair.”

John the Baptist’s birth was foretold by an angel. Prophecies said he would be great in the sight of the Lord. God gave him a message before he was born, so rightly so, there were many expectations of him even before his birth.

John’s message was to make a way for Jesus…to be a witness, to testify that Jesus was coming. You’d think a guy with this kind of mission before he was born, and whose  life’s focus was to fulfill this mission, would be preparing in a place of holy study while being protected and cared for. In actuality, his holy place was the wilderness. It was not an easy life, and in some ways not a respected life by those who were supposed to know religion.

John did his job though. People heard his message and he baptized them. He did everything God asked him to do and was true to his message. Because of this, and his judgement of unbelievers though, he was thrown into jail. But even in prison, John still had the hope, and didn’t doubt. He wondered, though, when Jesus would come and take over. He lost sight of the bigger picture. His expectations were not met.

 

This is similar to how writers feel…

When it seems like things are really starting to happen, but then suddenly the calls stop, or we don’t get the same great response as before. We try to do everything right but don’t get the results we expect. Sometimes we get so focused on the steps, and where the steps will lead, that we also lose sight of the bigger picture.

 

It’s not about our career, it’s not even about ability, it’s about obedience.

It’s about doing what we need to do to open people’s eyes to the reality of who God is. Jesus commended John, saying he was the greatest prophet among men. He said John did everything right, and yet in the end, John was beheaded. John’s life seems like it did not line up with his faithfulness. He did everything God asked and this was his reward? What was the point of that?

As writers we could say ask the same question. Maybe our sales have fallen off,