“Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 NLT

We’ve talked about a number of different ingredients in considering our calling as undaunted writers for God’s kingdom. In this blog we will look at two last elements.

Don’t Be Discouraged But Persist

Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you” 1 Chron. 28:20.

As human beings, we struggle to be patient, to wait on God’s timing. The prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:3-4 had to wait too. He was told by God that, “This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”  Let’s not short circuit the work God wants to do in our lives in the waiting, the preparation he wants to do in our hearts, so we can be ready for the breakthrough, for the ministry he will give us. 

Since it’s all about God and not about us, we can trust him to bring the increase. Just like the young boy who allowed Jesus to use his loaves and fishes to multiply and feed a large crowd, so we give back to the Lord what he has given us so he can use it to feed the spiritually hungry and seeking. We may feel as if we are never going to get that acceptance letter, like no one will ever read what we write. I struggle with the fear that my novels will never take off. But God has already blessed me with a measure of success through the publication of short stories and articles I have written and I know he will continue to open doors for me if I seek and obey him.  

Satan would like nothing better than for us to quit. Instead, let’s listen to the advice found in Galatians 6:9 where we are encouraged to not, “get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Let’s go in the spirit of Ezekiel 3:10-11 where the prophet is told, “let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says! ‘Do this whether they listen to you or not.’”

Be A Good Steward Of Our Gift 

We have the sacred honor of stewarding the gift of crafting words, of creating stories with excellence, that can bring many sons and daughters into the kingdom. Like the story of the servants given the talents to invest for their master (Matthew 28:14-30), we must bring honor to God and his kingdom by investing in the gifts he’s given us so they might “earn more.” 

This stewardship includes seeking God for his empowerment and anointing, becoming intimately acquainted with God’s Word so our writing carries his unadulterated, life-giving truth. We need to grow in our gifting by regular times spent writing, reading books on the craft, attending writers’ conferences, and networking with other authors. We also need to take care of our physical bodies by getting enough rest, enjoying a healthy diet low on the carbs and refined sugars that can create sluggishness and mental fog. Regular exercise and times of fun and recreation also refresh and rejuvenate us. 

We can also enrich our life experiences and expand our horizons through involvement with other settings and opportunities: a ministry in our church or elsewhere we’ve never considered before, a new hobby that stretches our “gray matter,” or a short term missions’ trip to an underdeveloped nation, perhaps a service opportunity in our local community. All of these adventures provide a rich resource to draw from to make our writing more robust and expansive.

And we cannot neglect relationships, whether in our home church, or with friends and family. God has given us our family as our first and most important “ministry” and when any other  ministry becomes more important than nurturing those relationships, our writing has slipped from its proper place in our priorities. We may be writing for people and their needs but that is no substitute for being “Jesus with skin on.” 

We must remember that our writing is a gift from God that we are to employ as unto him and that we are to put under his Lordship. Intimacy with Christ and his Word, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, humility, persistence, and stewardship are all important ingredients to considering our calling as an awesome and divine endowment.