Thursdays – Dawn’s Devotions for Writers
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
When I first married, I never planned or expected to personally experience divorce, but after 20 years of marriage, I became single again. The words from Jeremiah 29:11 became my lifeline.
On July 19, 2002, I married my husband Sonny, and our combined four daughters took part in the ceremony. My stepdaughter read Jeremiah 29:11 that day. Two months later, at the age of 19, she was killed in a devastating car accident. Our hope for a happy future could have been destroyed at that moment. Most marriages don’t survive experiencing the death of a child, and we’d barely had a chance to start our new life together.
Over the years, hope has helped me deal with grief, a nineteen month job loss for my husband, and other crisis situations. God has given us a wonderful “present” and the hope for even more blessing in the “future.” We often look at our three grown daughters and are awed at how God continues to unfold his plans for their own lives.
I’m a planner. It’s in my DNA. I plan menus for parties weeks in advance. I’m someone who needs to keep on top of things. As a writer, editor, wife, mom, friend, volunteer—I lean heavily on my Outlook calendar and Excel spread sheets to help keep my life sane.
With all my planning, I still need to remember that God is control. Not me.
Whenever I start to stress about things not coming together as easily or quickly as I’d like—or not at all—I return to Jeremiah 29:11.
The verse also applies to our writing careers. I find comfort in that.
It’s important that we do our part. We need to work hard, study the craft, write, and write some more. We need to submit, network, and then write some more. And then once published, we need to do it all over again….
But any success, whether small or huge, comes in God’s timing. We can rest in the fact that he knows what’s best for us. I know that’s true because I’ve seen it many times over in my own life and in the lives of my children.
We may not know what the future holds for our writing careers, but God does. Trust that. Let it provide you with hope.
