Don�t Stop Writing Your Book
If you�re a writer, you�ve said it at least once�this hour. Or maybe you�re on a writer�s high, and you haven�t said it in a day or two. For the sake of the community, allow me to crack open your skull (figuratively speaking, of course) and expose your innermost thoughts for the writing world to hear:
I�m never going to finish this book. I could have birthed an elephant in the time I�ve been working on it. Maybe two. And if I do finish it, no agent will want to represent me. I�m a nobody. And if, by chance, someone feels sorry for me and takes me on as a benevolence project, he�ll never be able to find a publisher. I�m sorry, but your manuscript doesn�t meet our publication needs at this time.
Besides, lots of other people have written about ________ (insert your subject or story line). What makes me think mine is unique? And even IF a publisher says yes, who�s going to pay good money to read what I�ve written? If I had to choose between Sarah Young, Karen Kingsbury, or me, I�m not sure I�d spend my money on my book. Why should I expect someone else to?
If you�ve quit today, this week, or this month (Did you attend a writers conference? Sadly, lots of people quit there), I want to encourage you�don�t stop writing your book (blog, newsletter, or column). God uses books.
Let me say it again.
God uses books.
He reminded me of this twice this week.
The first reminder came in a note from a friend. Her husband of 50 years had died after a horrific illness, and she was heartbroken. Normally bright-eyed and energetic, on the day I saw her, she looked as though she had aged 20 years.
As she talked and I listened, sympathetic tears sprang to my eyes. My heart ached for her, and I wanted so badly to lift some of the burden she wore like a rain-soaked garment. I took her hand and prayed, asking the God of All Comfort to make himself very real to her.
After we parted, I knew she needed more than kind words and a prayer. She needed a resource she could access any time grief sank its teeth into her heart. I ordered the book, Grieving the Loss of Someone You Love,by Raymond Mitsch. When it arrived, I dropped it into a cheerful bag with a tin of my favorite chocolate straws and delivered it to her back porch.
Yesterday I found a note in my mailbox. �Thank you so much for your friendship, your prayers, and this amazing book,� she wrote. �It has brought me comfort when I�m hurting, wise counsel to help me navigate my grief journey, and tips to let me know what�s normal and what�s not as I adapt to life without my husband. I read it every day. It�s a lifeline.�
No doubt about it. God uses books.
The second reminder came in a completely different setting. Over the past year or so, I�ve grown increasingly concerned about a friend�s spiritual condition. A series of deep hurts and losses has caused Kate to become more and more cynical, questioning the truth of the Bible, God�s love, and the Christian faith. When I overheard her describing Moses� parting of the Red Sea as �a fable,� I knew things were serious.
Later that day, while dusting, my eyes fell on one of the books on my bedside table. I�d received Why I Believe � Straight Answers to Honest Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity,� by Chip Ingram, earlier that year as a gift. I remembered liking his scientific yet conversational approach to some of the most common questions people ask about Christianity. Instantly, I knew God hadn�t intended that book for me, but for my friend Kate. I prayerfully passed it along to her.
This week when we met, she told me she was already halfway through the book. �I like the author�s approach,� she said. �He makes some very good points. I plan to read it all the way through.�
My heart�s desire is for Kate to place her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe God is using Chip Ingram�s book to answer her questions and draw her to himself. While no book (not even the Bible) will answer every question she has, she�ll find plenty of scriptural reasons to believe within the pages of Ingram�s book.
These two experiences reminded me of what I already know�God uses books. He uses the most important book of all, The Bible, and he uses words penned by Sarah Young, Karen Kingsbury, and us to share the message he places in our hearts.
So don�t quit. God has plans for your writing�if you surrender it to him for the good of others and for his glory.
Now it�s your turn. What thoughts do you struggle with when you think about quitting? How do you combat them? Leave a comment below and join the conversation.
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