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| Melinda Viergever Inman |
Trusting
God in the New Year
As this new year begins, we writers assess the coming year
and plan our strategies. We pencil into our calendars the outline of our year's
work: We have manuscripts to hone and promos to plan, design, and carry out. We
have novels to pass to editors and designers to consult. We have queries to
draft and pitches to perfect. We have hopes and dreams.
If we’ve been at this a while, we’ve seen the Christian
publishing world shrink as indie and small publishing houses expand. As a
result, we’ve toyed with new strategies, maybe even utilizing them to pursue
our writing dreams. For some of us, everything will change this year, and our
first books will be published. For others, we’re plotting the production of our
next novels.
All of us are building our mailing lists, expanding our
platforms, and learning marketing strategies and skills, tactics that weren’t
even necessary a mere ten years ago. Now we must begin this work before our
first books are even published. We all must market, because there are millions
of books on Amazon.
Rather than growing overwhelmed by the difficulty of being
seen in this mass of online literature or by the daunting tasks we must learn
in order to market, let’s instead remember that we work for the God of the
universe.
We are the modern-day tellers of parables. We walk in Jesus’ footsteps.
The Lord already knows the audience He intends for our work,
and He knows how our writing will impact our readers. He uses our words, as
well as the work of other writers, to bring growth in their lives. We are not
to fear the “competition” of other Christian writers, who are our co-laborers
in a common cause. Rather, we are to link arms. As Paul wrote:
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been
making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is
anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one
who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their
own labor” (1 Corinthians 3:6-8 NIV).
God already knows the audience we will impact with our
work—our combined efforts as well as individually. He will see that this
outcome is achieved—His outcome, not necessarily our own. Like the disciples of
old, our tasks are to obey Jesus, to walk in His footsteps, to exert ourselves
in the work He has given, and to trust Him with the outcome. Only He can
produce the fruit. Only He can cause our readers to grow.
We are
responsible to use our gifts. He is responsible for the results.
The Lord has whispered this truth to me since I first began
writing fiction. I often must remind myself, lest I be swept into frantic
effort out of fear that my planting and my watering will be lost in the Amazon
pile.
We must remember that God is still God. He is even sovereign
over the publishing industry and the Amazon algorithms. He will get the words
He has given us to the audience He intends, and He will use us all in our
readers’ lives.
Now is
the time to recommit our work to Him and to trust Him anew.
Love
takes action: The Creator God establishes the cosmos and shapes a man. Adam
rises from the dust. Envious, the powerful angel Lucifer despises him.
Oblivious to the threat, Adam is captivated by his strong, intuitive wife Eve.
In the Garden of Eden, they enjoy abundant food, gorgeous vistas, and
intriguing challenges, including their budding love and passion. They have it
all!
But
Lucifer’s deceptive brilliance tricks them into disobeying God. They eat the
one forbidden fruit. Their innocence is shattered. Their unity with one another
and with God is destroyed. Death will follow. Lucifer’s jealousy threatens
mankind’s tenuous beginning. But God is merciful. What astonishing promise does
He make? How will Adam and Eve survive—broken, shattered, and separated from God?
Melinda Viergever Inman was
raised in a storytelling family. There her roots were sunk. During years of
relocation, tragedy struck. Wounded and heartbroken, Melinda forsook her roots
and ran from herself and from God. A journey of trial and heartache brought her
home again. A prodigal now returned, she writes with passion, illustrating
God's love for wounded people as He makes beauty from ashes. Fallen is her second novel; Refuge, the sequel, is her first.
Melinda shepherds women in prison ministry and writes inspirational material at
http://melindainman.com/blog/. With her family she is involved with Mission
India/RIMI, rescuing orphans and providing theological and job training for
impoverished students.
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