A Writer’s Heart: Writing
“Now therefore go,
and I will be with thy mouth,
and teach thee what thou shalt say …
and will teach you what ye shall do.”
Exodus 4:12, 15c, KJV
Moses made all kinds of excuses why he shouldn’t be the one to go and speak for the Lord to Pharoah.
- The people wouldn’t believe the Lord called him.
- They wouldn’t listen to him.
- He couldn’t talk well.
Most authors can identify with Moses. When beginning the writer’s journey, we write because we enjoy writing. There is something inside moving us to tell our story through the written word. Our own beliefs and fears can hinder us from seeking to enter our written words into the world.
- Our acquaintances won’t believe our writing is a calling or real ministry of the Lord.
- What do we have to say others haven’t said?
- Our circle of influence is small.
- Who will listen, anyway?
- There are others who write so much better.
- Why bother?
When our fears meet truth, we are enabled to overcome the fears and do what the Lord is teaching us to do. Has the Lord called you to write for more than personal enjoyment and growth? He did me in an unusual way and with a particular mission.
I didn’t know the mission when I first started writing to share with others. As an adult, I’ve had a heart for missions and God honored the desire, not by sending me to a foreign field, but through ministering to youth in bible studies and mission trips to Native American reservations, and encouraging others on the foreign fields. During those years, the Lord opened opportunities for me to hold workshops in a couple women’s conferences and speak locally. Then about seven years ago, I began blogging. Here is where the Lord gave me a growing platform to fulfill the desire to take his word around the world—and I didn’t have to leave home, family, or comforts. I only had to wait on the Lord to see that desire come to fruition.
Has the Lord called you to write?
Then write. He will be with you as He was with Moses and me.
Would others respond to my written word? Yes, and others will respond to yours.
- The Lord will prosper the word he sends out from us.
- We can’t allow rejection to dictate our obedience or desire.
- We can rest in where the Lord will send his message.
- We may not know where it lands but know the work will not be in vain.
Authors wonder how our work can be accepted when we read other authors (our favorites) who write better than we do. Instead of hindering our progress,
- allow them to encourage us, teach us.
- Keep listening and learning in the way we should go.
- Take advantage of the many conferences offered. Find the ones that speak to your needs and fears.
- Make connections with other authors and writing groups.
- Keep writing.
The Lord hasn’t called us to write other author’s stories but to write our own. Our own is unique to us, evolved from our time, study, and experience with the Lord, and written from our perspective. What if Matthew, Luke, and John had looked at Mark’s gospel and determined there was no need for their gospel? We all would have missed out on the full story.
Moses grew as he followed the teaching of the Lord’s purpose for him. As the Lord has given each of us a ministry, let’s trust him to give us all we need to bring him glory in the work we do in his name. He has called us to be his witnesses and writing is one of the tools we’ve been given.
As we share the life Jesus desires for all to have, not all will receive or even like the words we write. For those who do, we have this teaching from the Lord.
“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil,
this is the man who hears the word and understands it;
who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth,
some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Matthew 23:13, NASB
Ours is to do what we’ve been called to do and rest in knowing God will bring the increase—in his time.
What’s the greatest obstacle you face in writing? Mine is marketing. But the Lord is with us in that, too. We need only ask. Now, therefore go, write. The Lord will teach you.
Meeting Jesus With Donna Stearns 