As
Christians, most of us strive to hold onto the truth that God is in control.
Right? And as Christian writers, we believe that includes God knowing the right
time and place for different phases of our careers. But that doesn’t mean we
don’t have to do our part.
We
also need to have a dream, a plan, and some motivation.
Where
there is no vision, the people parish. ~Proverbs 29:18
I recently read something to this effect: Our beliefs affect our actions, and our
actions affect our results.
Besides
trusting that God has a handle on things, we also need to believe in ourselves—and
hold onto the fact that God believes in us. After all, he gave us the desire
and talent to write in the first place.
It
takes belief in ourselves to write when:
- We’re weary from the day job or taking care of our family.
- We rise at 5:00 a.m. to write before tackling other responsibilities.
- After receiving a rejection, we dive back in.
- Years have passed without a contract.
- Reviews or contest evaluations are hurtful.
Just
as we need belief to have the motivation to act, we need to act to have any
results. Stories aren’t going to be written during the night while we sleep. No
one will see them if they aren’t submitted. And no contracts will be awarded if
they’re never read.
To
be successful writers we need to:
- Believe in ourselves and in God’s plan for our writing careers.
- Act on those beliefs and put in the hard work necessary.
- Trust that by acting on our beliefs, we will produce results.
When
I have doubts and trouble believing in myself, I check in with my team here.
Annette, Ocieanna, and Angie are only an e-mail or a phone call away. We don’t
just host a blog together. We encourage, support, and pray for each other in
our writing and personal lives. It sure
helps to hear that we believe in each other!
Are
there days when you have trouble believing in yourself? What helps you get out
of that funk?
~
Dawn
