Recently hubby and I were blessed to hear Christian Success Coach Dr. Dave Martin speak at our church. With thought-provoking concepts and stand-up-comic-belly-laugh humor, he preached an entire sermon focused on one verse with the acronym DARE.
God
can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or
request in your wildest dreams! (Eph 3:20 The Message)
Hang with me. I promise not to summarize the entire sermon or go into all of the letters, just E.
EXPECT favor.
As in…expect favor from God, the Creator of the entire world. Who filled it with a sun that lights our days and warms our backs, and makes it rise and set without us ever having to lift a finger. He created seas that roar, rivers that trickle, and mountains that surge to the heavens. He crafted man from dust and woman from man and gifts us with precious little souls with miniature toes and fingers, exact replicas of their mommies and daddies. He’s amazing, right? He’s able to do infinitely more than we can ever imagine, but --
Do we really expect Him to?
Martin’s philosophy is that when we
recognize and celebrate His involvement with the little things, we'll begin to
see an increase in the bigger things. Cool, huh?
Exactly two mornings later, I was
immersed in writing and my son asked me to pick up our sick granddaughter from
school. My first thought was my word count just got kicked to the curb.
My second? Expect favor.
Oops. Can I have a do-over?
Thank You,
God—
· for a job that allows me the flexibility to do
things for my sons and grandkidlets.
· for the few minutes of undivided attention with
my teenage granddaughter, where she feels free to share what’s on her heart.
Whether that’s about boys, friends or homework, thank You that she still likes
to chat with her Meme.
· that my son and his family live within a five
minute drive of our house.
· that even though I didn’t reach my daily word
count, my weekly goal was right on target and my overall word count was ahead
of projection.
· for the break in routine, something You know I
find challenging.
Whoa! Major attitude shift, right?
Later that evening, I wasn’t stressed that I didn’t accomplish as much as I’d
hoped. God is more than able to take my little and multiply as He pleases.
Expecting
favor is not a one-time deal. It’s a lifestyle. It’s waking up and marveling
over what miracle God will reveal today. It’s looking for the good in every
circumstance, it’s treasuring the gift of the moment, it’s discovering nuggets
of joy in the simple and mundane.
Expecting
favor in my writing means praying over my stories and characters, asking
God for His words to cascade down from heaven, to flow like a waterfall through
my brain to my heart and then out my fingertips. It's savoring that first cup of java while the sun rises over my back deck or in front of a glowing fireplace, just me and Him. It’s rejoicing over every idea
that percolates, every word that flows onto the page, every story that comes to
life, whether or not it makes it to print. It’s appreciating that tingle of
anticipation as my fingers poise across the keyboard, that jolt when a scene comes together in my head while my dog's dragging me around the park, or that satisfied sigh after
writing a particularly emotional scene or finally arriving at THE END.
Maybe you’ve been doing this writing
gig for a long time, and that mountain of rejection letters has buried your
tiny seed of hope. Ask God to move the mountain and then expect His favor!
How about you? Can you see areas in your writing where you might adopt this expect favor attitude? Do you live every day expecting favor?
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| Purchase Link |
Still stinging from the
publicity surrounding her father's death, social phobic Rori Harmon prefers the
solitude of her animal sanctuary, accepting that marriage isn’t in her future.
Racecar Driver Graham Decker refuses to be wrangled into a relationship by
another money-hungry female. On a philanthropy mission, he arrives just in time
to assist Rori with a llama birthing, but his appearance thrusts her into the
media spotlight again. Has Graham found a woman who doesn't care how deep his
wallet extends? Has Rori finally met a man who will stick around when times get
tough? Is healing for a hurting heart finally within Rori's reach?
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| Dora Hiers |
Dora Hiers is a multi-published author of Heart
Racing, God-Gracing romances. She’s a member of RWA and her local chapter, Carolina Romance Writers. Connect with her on Seriously Write, Fiction Faith & Foodies, Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.
