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Your Writing Career, A Pencil in God’s Hand, Part 3
Posted by April W Gardner on February 22, 2012
My last two visits to Reflections in Hindsight, we’ve talked about how BIG our God is.
These are the two examples I gave, and, quite frankly, they boggle the mind.
- With his breath, God created Canis Majoris, a star so large, that you could fit 7 quadrillion earths into it. That’s enough golf balls to cover the entire state of Texas 22 inches deep. That’s BIG. But our God is BIGGER. Psalm 33:6–“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
- He sees all of Time. At the same time. All in one massive glance, just as you do when you hold a timeline (a.k.a pencil) in front of you. Ps 133: 4–Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.” KNOW—present tense, indicating God’s ability to see ALL of time in His present tense.
That’s pretty impressive, if you ask me. But we can’t stop at being “impressed.” We must act on it, and as writers, this fresh perspective of our amazing God can and should change how we view what we write.
Last week, I pointed out that such knowledge frees us to release the stress of having to “do it all.” It frees us from the urge to over-extend ourselves resulting in burn-out. It frees God to work and get all the glory for the results.
But there’s more. Knowing that God is in complete control of our writing career timelines not only frees us from stress, but it gives us the confidence to move forward in the plan He has for US.
How often do we mentally categorize other authors according to how “important” they are? Multi-published, best-selling, big-name authors have “arrived.” They’re at the top. The unpublished are at the bottom, always looking up, dreaming, wishing. (Side note: the longer I’m around the publishing industry, the more I realize that no matter where a person is at on someone else’s “scale of importance,” he/she usually feels like they’re still at the bottom. Insecurities are a bear to contend with!)
The truth of the matter is that in the Christian writing world there should be no categories. God doesn’t have them. Why should we? In His eyes, our writing career timeline (carefully molded and created by HIM) are perfection, no matter how long they are, no matter how high they reach on the almighty “Scale of Importance.”
Destroy the scales! They are heavy boogers and weigh us down with insignificance and discouragement. Yes, maintain respect for those who have gone before, but let’s not think more highly of them than we ought. Your Writing Career Timeline is unique. It’s special, crafted by God’s own hand. So give Him the glory, and be proud that He loved you enough to make your career different.
Remember, because you know that the Creator of Canis Major and the Master Overseer of Time called you to write and with infinite wisdom crafted your writing career timeline, your perspective on fellow authors is free to change. You can knock down unhealthy pedestals and, with respect, view others as equals, no matter who they are.
Throughout this series, I’ve come back and again and again to the idea that we can view our writing careers as a timeline held in God’s hand, just as we hold a pencil in ours.
Let me challenge you to find a unique pencil. One that’s never been used before. One that stands out (no yellow Dixon #2s!). Keep it in a place where you’ll always be able to find it. When you doubt your calling, grow impatient, feel worthless or overwhelmed, take your “Timeline” and write it all down. Then remember, God knows where you’re at. He’s already written “the end.” The author and finisher of your writing career has a firm grasp of your pencil, and if you’ll let him, the story He’ll write will blow you away.
–April W. Gardner is the author of the Creek Country Saga and
the Sr. Editor at the literary site, Clash of the Titles.
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