Opinion
When it’s time to respond to God’s call
Jane Walters encourages would-be writers to respond with action rather than excuses, and feels that the same applies whenever God calls for us to act.
I was interviewed last week for a podcast hosted by Kingdom Story Writers. It’s always fun to do something like that and you never know quite what you’re going to say, even when they’ve kindly let you see the questions ahead of time. I know that both I and the interviewer were approaching the whole thing prayerfully and watching to see what God would do. We weren’t disappointed!
The final questions were typical ones to ask a writer: What would you say to someone who feels they should write a book/tell their story? What tips can you offer? My answer was my stock one: just get on and do it; but as I said it, I felt an urgency that isn’t usually there. I heard myself urging the listeners to write – because there’s a reader out there that really, really needs to hear what you have to say. Who knows if your words might save someone’s life?
The fact is, people often say things to me along the lines of, ‘I feel I should write a book.’ It’s what gets them coming along to my writing retreats or joining the Association of Christian Writers – both good moves, by the way. They usually say it full of excitement tinged with natural trepidation. Most tell me that they feel God telling them to write. It’s a heavenly commission. You could argue that it comes with a sense of obligation and certainly responsibility. But despite all that, the number that actually sit down and write, and stay sitting and writing for as long as it takes, is relatively few.
But, to go back to the podcast, it was the urgency in my reply that surprised me then, and continues to do so now. You see, whether we’re writers or anything else within the church and God’s kingdom, if God asks us to do something, we simply must do it.
We might let natural humility or false modesty talk us out of it: ‘Oh, I’m sure He could use someone far more worthy than little old me.’ Perhaps we doubt whether we heard the call correctly: ‘I’m just waiting for my 19th piece of confirmation right now.’ Sadly, sometimes we forget that He even spoke at all, His words buried in our busyness and distraction.
We are the flesh-bound mouthpiece, hands and feet for our almighty invisible God. We have the means to serve Him, and the reasons, to say nothing of the motivation. If God is saying, ‘Go! Do it!’ don’t you think we should?
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Jane Walters is Chair of the Association of Christian Writers and loves to champion writers of all ages and stages. She leads Green Pastures Christian Writers (currently meeting on Zoom) and creative writing retreats at Quiet Waters. Find out more: www.janewyattwalters.com or @readywritersretreats on Instagram.
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