Into the Fire

So often people are living in a hurry. Pressing. Pushing. Running. With many people it’s because of families—children of various ages with differing demands. Jobs. Daycares. Vacations. Bills. Quarrels. Church. Ministry. Life.

With writers it’s always the next project. With novelists it’s that next story. With published authors, it’s the next deadline.

Observations of some serious writers have left me with the impression that we authors are an insecure lot. “Successful” writers often live with the fear that the next proposal won’t fly. The publisher will want something different. It reminds me of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, then identifying a mysterious card located in an impossible place before a judge who shakes his head vehemently and spouts, “No, no! We’ve seen that. We want something different now!” The frantic magician packs up his wares with a panicked expression and juggles the load home to plant himself in his usual place to go through an entire catalogue of new tricks. “Will he like these?” he frets, polishing his undetectable slights of hand, the smile perfectly situated on his face to illustrate his effortless guile.

Multi-published author after multi-published author lectures wannabes to treasure this time of “leisure” construction of stories without deadlines, of inconsequential rejections, of being able to linger over book number one and the decision to plot book number two. The impatient newbies (wannabes) grit their teeth in dismay, muttering “Easy for you to say.” Because they assume these professionally published bigwigs have forgotten their humble beginnings and what it was like to feel those innumerable rejections searing into their souls, not to mention the umpteen queries and proposals the upstart has perfected so many times he has begun to hate his story. The fear of never seeing it between a perfectly designed cover escalates, and the scorn for less than scintillating novels he’s read in the last month compounds his negativity.

Well . . . this might make sense to many, but as Christians who write, we should be embarrassed to admit to any of it. We often forget God is the source of our creativity. He is the One who brings the increase and furnishes the supply. If we’re striving and fussing and fuming over what we’re creating, preparing, or presenting, chances are we’re in the wrong frame of mind. Who do we trust? Ourselves? Heck, we’re the ones getting rejections. The agents, editors, publishers? They must answer to the same One we answer to. And all of us very often forget all about that important factor.

While it’s important to accomplish all that the Lord has for us to do—in this case, write—it is even more vital to allow Him to set the pace. Isn’t it a bit humbling to note that much of what we think is so critical to get done will be considered chaff and go up in smoke? Every day we are asked to do certain things by the Spirit of God. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to achieve that which the Lord intends for us to do on any given day? Wow. Something tells me if we could focus our intentions on Him and His directions for our lives and our writing, the pressing, pushing, and strife would melt away in His peace.

Father, help me to always trust in you. Over and over again. Always. No matter what, Lord. No matter what. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.