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| Melinda V. Inman |
The Breaking Has a Purpose
Every single one of us is broken. First, as members of Adam’s race, we are all broken by sin. Our sins and resultant weaknesses leak out of us daily, even after our salvation, causing consternation, harm, and the necessity of repentance, apologies, and amends. Daily, we sin in thought, word, and/or deed.
Simultaneously, as we move through life, our bodies deteriorate. The march of time causes them to gradually wear down, stretching us thin, taking us closer and closer to heaven, step by step. This, we must yield to God, recognizing that we are not in control of the outcome.
On top of that, we live in a fallen world. Everyone around us and every single human institution is also broken, moving toward decay and decadence. A look at our crumbling society makes this obvious. Brokenness permeates everything, regardless of our efforts.
These circumstances all combine, causing our edges to feel ragged, our emotions fragile, and our sense of self broken. We’re at wit’s end. We’re uncertain what to do. We feel undone.
Jesus was even more aware of this brokenness than we are, and so he came to earth as a human being—fully God and yet fully man simultaneously. As such, he took on the weight of our sins, paying for our redemption with his own blood. He offered salvation to all who would believe in him. That’s the Gospel, the Good News.
Part of that Good News is that no matter the condition of our human frame, our tumultuous emotions, or our current shattered and falling apart circumstances, God can and will use that situation for his purposes. For those who love him, he orchestrates even the breaking for our good.
He has given us the task of telling others, of writing about the reality of these broken places. This is why we write. This is the place where every one of our readers live. They need the Good News. Our words proclaim the truth that we all need to hear. We write for the Savior.
If we’re humble, if we’re transparent, if we’re yielded tools in his hands, he will use our words to open eyes and hearts and lives to the work of his Spirit, bringing men and women to Christ. To reach people where they most need his care, we must write about the breaking. That is its purpose.
After being nearly completely beat down and destroyed, Paul phrased it thus: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-6 ESV).
There we have it. These are our marching orders. Will we write about the breaking, so we can comfort others where they are? When sufferings are abundant, will we share about God’s abundant comfort, helping our readers to patiently endure?
Will we personally write from a place of honesty and transparency, so others can know that they are not alone, that they, too, can turn to Christ?
In our fiction, will we write characters who are real and broken? Will we fill our fiction with people who may not come to a place of tidy resolution? Will we create persons who must struggle and strive to hope in God, in both good circumstances and in tragic ones? Will we write about the breaking, so we can comfort others where they are? When sufferings are abundant, will we share about God’s abundant comfort, helping our readers to patiently endure?
How has the Lord called you to write about the breaking?
Will we write from a place of honesty and transparency, so others can know that they are not alone, that they, too, can turn to Christ? #WritingCommunity #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @MelindaVInman
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| Melinda V. Inman, Author of Refuge; Fallen; and No Longer Alone |
Raised on the Oklahoma plains in a storytelling family, Melinda Viergever Inman now spins tales from her writer's cave in the coastal South. Her faith-filled fiction illustrates our human story, wrestling with our brokenness and the storms that wreak havoc in our lives.
Melinda has two projects releasing this fall. One is a novella—Benjamin’s Blessing, Book #2 in a Mafia Princesses and Mountain Men series written with a group of Christian writers. If you loved 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, you’ll love this modern take on the story. Book 0 is already available for preorder at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V7K4LKS/.
Melinda’s other project for 2019 is the sequel to No Longer Alone—the novel The Shadows Come, publishing near Thanksgiving, just in time for Christmas gifts! All of Melinda’s work, including past titles, can be found on her Amazon Author page at http://bit.ly/MelindasBooks.
Connections:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Melinda-V-Inman/189731601076470
Website: http://melindainman.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelindaVInman
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/melindavinman/
