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| Becky Wade |
The Christian writing community is one that offers support.
We cheer each other on when the going gets a little rough. But what happens
when we sit at our computers alone? Author Becky
Wade shares encouragement for
those days when discouragement tries
to make a home within our hearts.
~ Dawn
Writing
by Faith
by
Becky Wade
There are times when I'm certain my w.i.p. is drivel. Times
when I'm not sure how the storyline should play out. Times, during revisions,
when I doubt whether I'll be able to make the book as good as I long for it to
be. Times, once it goes to print, when I doubt whether anyone other than me
will like it.
Some of you may be doubting if you'll ever be able to find
an agent or snag a publishing contract.
Over the years God has had to gently, repeatedly, inexorably
remind me of this truth: I may be daunted, but He is not.
He's not frozen by doubt. He's not afraid. He has a plan and
He's only waiting on my willingness to be His vessel. God can accomplish exactly what He wants to accomplish through me,
through you.
As writers of Christian fiction, our job, at its core, is
simply this. To walk by faith. Or, in our case, to write by faith. 2
Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith not by sight."
WALK
Have you heard God call you to write novels? Then write! In
order for something to happen, we must first do the action. Writing is challenging. There will be worries,
trials, moments of utter frustration and heartache. But God meets the writer
who shows up at her keyboard and pushes up her sleeves. He can do nothing in
the life of the author who hears the call, is full of faith, yet doesn't have
the perseverance to finish her manuscript—or quits because she can't handle
rejection—or stalls because she can't find the time.
BY FAITH
Faith in what? That we'll one day be published? Hit
bestseller lists? Earn a fortune?
No. Our faith is in the character and the will of our
Father. Money, career achievement, and fame are not the reward of our calling.
The reward "that neither moth nor rust destroys, that thieves cannot break
in and steal" (Matt 6:19) is the joy and satisfaction that comes from
completing the work God has set before us.
NOT BY SIGHT
What is more invisible than an unwritten novel? When we open
our computer document to fill the day's pages, there is literally nothing there to see. May the blank
screen serve as God's reminder to us that unlike the non-believers around us,
we are not to act based on what we see. Job 37:5 says, "He does great
things which we cannot comprehend." Much of what God is doing through our
writing we will not understand until we get to heaven.
To me, this writing career is like walking along a
gangplank. There's safety behind. Below, raging waters full of danger. Before, only
uncertainty and empty air. Every time I come to my manuscript, God beckons me
forward. If I try to walk by sight, I'll find myself either drowning or
cowering.
But if I walk by
faith, stepping forward into thin air, trusting the One who instructed me to
walk, then I've discovered that—amazingly, wondrously—God lengthens the
gangplank just that little bit further each time. My foot hits secure wood.
Every step I take gives Him an opportunity to support my weight.
When I encounter doubts, I'm learning to trust the process.
Or, rather, to trust God's process of
writing books through me.
He who beckons is faithful!
What
part of your writing life most challenges your faith? Has God proven Himself
reliable?
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Becky Wade makes her
home in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and one adoring (and
adored) cavalier spaniel. Her CBA debut, My
Stubborn Heart, was released by Bethany House last spring. Her next
contemporary romance, Undeniably Yours,
will hit shelves in May.
To learn more about Becky, please visit:
Web Site: www.beckywade.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorbeckywade
