Write from the Deep

Karen Ball & Erin Taylor Young
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Encouragement, refreshment, and truth from writers, for writers.

  1. 11/25/2024

    You Brought Us Joy!

    Thank you, listeners, for over nine years of sharing your writing journey with Write from the Deep! We’ve found such joy in bringing you God’s encouragement and in hearing from you. Join us in this final podcast as we share final truths and insights to help you along your writing journey. And God bless each of you! But first, thank you to all our patrons on Patreon! You help make this podcast possible! And in particular, thank you to ALL of our 2024 sponsors of the month: Christy Bass Adams, Wendy L. Macdonald, Tammy Partlow, Priscilla Sharrow, and Kimberley Woodhouse! You’ve been such a blessing to us and to all our listeners! An Important Announcement Erin Taylor Young: Welcome, listeners, to the Deep. We have some important news to share with you. Karen Ball: And here it is: the podcast you’re listening to in this very moment is our final episode from Write from the Deep. You see, Erin asked me a while ago if I thought it was maybe time to step away from the podcast because of health issues and other reasons. At first I was like, no, no, let’s keep going. But as the days went by and I thought and prayed about it, God showed me that I really did need to step back, because of my––and Don’s––increasing health issues. As I came to that decision, I felt such peace wash over me that I knew it was the right thing. Erin Taylor Young: I asked Karen because I’ve been having a few health issues of my own. And also, I’ve been feeling the need to prune, but I didn’t know which things should go. I took a sabbatical from editing over the summer, which was great. But I learned that I needed to keep praying about the pruning that God wanted to do in my life, and I needed to keep seeking Him about the disciplined pursuit of less. We talked about this idea back in episode 223 in “Three Essentials for a Christian Writer’s Life.” So as I sought guidance for pruning and refocusing, God showed me it is time to let go of this podcast. I want you all to know I am not missing the irony there that an episode that I researched and recorded for the show is one of the things that contributed to me understanding that I need to let go of it.  Our Final Gifts for You Karen Ball: Love the way God works to guide us! How we can make this decision with joy because we know it’s what God is guiding us to do. Now, as you listeners know, we often end our interviews with guests by asking them for final words of wisdom or encouragement. So we thought it would be a fitting end to ask ourselves the same question. So what wisdom and encouragement do we most want to leave with you to return some of the joy you’ve brought us? Ground Everything in God’s Word Erin Taylor Young: Well, the first thing that I want to share is from Psalm 1:1-3.  “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law. He meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. And in whatever he does, he prospers.” You guys, ground everything you do in God’s Word. But more than that, make God’s word your delight. Your greatest joy. It says, our delight should be in the law of the Lord and we’ll yield fruit in its season. Not before its season, by the way. So be patient. Spend your time soaking in God’s word and loving it and meditating on it. This is how we guarantee that our lives will be fruitful. Not Overdue a Single Day! Karen Ball: I’ve mentioned a couple times on the podcast that Habakkuk 2:3 is my life verse:  “Slowly, steadily. surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient. They will not be overdue a single day.” Not overdue a single day. I love that so much. As you go through your writing journey, remember, it’s all in God’s hands and in his timing. He knows what you need and He will provide, even if it seems like it’s taking forever. Take this verse to heart, so when you start feeling that way, you can remember with a soul-deep joy that God’s plans for you will surely come to pass. They won’t be overdue a single day. Just trust and rest in Him and keep doing what He’s asking you to do. Wait on God Erin Taylor Young: My next verse fits right in with Karen’s. It’s Isaiah 64:4.  “Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.”  Remember I said earlier that patience is important? This is why. When we wait for God, He acts. I’m not talking about just any old kind of waiting here. I’m talking about expecting. I’m talking about looking to God to hope in Him and believe in him. Think about how astounding it is that the God of the universe acts on our behalf to accomplish His purposes. This is how God is different from all the other so-called gods of this world. The true God works on our behalf to show Himself great and mighty. He delights in doing this, He purposes to do this. If only we could all walk every minute of our writing journey fully convinced that God is on our side and that He is always working on our behalf for our good and His glory.  This is the Way Karen Ball: I love that. I love Isaiah. It holds so much wisdom. For example, Isaiah 30:21 has this powerful message for all of us:. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way walk in it.” God is so present in your life and in your writing journey, but you’ve got to listen. You’ve got to keep your heart attuned to Him and to His voice. He won’t let you go astray if you do that. But you know what? Even if you do make a misstep, just take it to Him and He will guide you back to the path He has for you.  Strong Support Erin Taylor Young: Amen. My next verse is 2 Chronicles 16:9. Just the first half says: “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” I’ve had this first section memorized for a long time because it says God will not only guide us, but “strongly support” us. And this verse also reminds me we have a part to play. We need hearts that are completely God’s. Thankfully, though, we don’t accomplish that on our own because one of the things God has done for us when we chose to follow Him is He gave us a new heart, a heart of flesh, and not a heart of stone. A heart that can resonate with His joy because of all He’s done for us.  No Divided Hearts! But even though we know this truth, other desires can come in and divide our hearts. And steal our joy. This world is full of things that just call to us. It may not be our cares and our concerns, but maybe it’s entertainment, money, status, sales, contracts. And let’s not forget stuff like toys and trinkets and all those things.  There is a reason Jesus says in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart [or the undivided in heart] for they shall see God.” It’s hard to see God with a divided heart. But look at how this verse talks about God looking. For us. He’s searching the world for people who will look to Him who trust Him and hope in him. God’s not up there grudgingly giving out help if we beg hard enough. It brings Him joy to bless us! He has a master plan for the world and every person on this planet, and we get to be a part of it.  We get to bring His truth to this dark world, and we get to be part of God’s kingdom on earth. So go into every day and know God is there waiting to strongly support you. Remember to Rest Karen Ball: Hebrews 4:9-11is a reminder we all need, and it says this: “There is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest, have rested from their labors. Just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God as the people of Israel did, we will fall.” As Ecclesiastes points out, there’s a God-appointed time for everything in our lives, which means there’s a God-appointed time for us to rest. We do need to work hard to push ourselves toward excellence in God’s name, but friends, we also need to take time to rest on our writing journey and in life.  I’m not talking about just resting when you’re discouraged or exhausted, but taking regular time to rest your soul and heart and mind as a part of your process in the day, to prepare yourself to receive God’s joy. You’re not being weak or lazy when you rest. You’re being wise and obedient.  Let God Fill You Erin Taylor Young: Rest is productive. It really is.  Another verse I want to give to you guys is Psalm 81:10: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.” It’s too easy to forget to ask God to supply all our needs. He wants us to depend on Him. Think about God bringing the Israelites, who are a nation of slaves, out of Egypt, which at the time was the most powerful nation. Consider how unprecedented this display of God’s sovereign might was when He made Pharaoh release the Israelites! Then Pharaoh changes his mind and comes back after them with the entire army. That was scary. But God showed His might and His power. And the Israelites went from fear to joy! All of God’s power and provision and miracle working brings to our minds now that He is our protector and provider. He says to us, as He did to the Israelites, “Open wide your mouth ‘cause I’m going to bring all My power and resources to fill it.” Friends, there is nothing you need that God

    23 min

  2. 11/11/2024

    Embrace Joy! with Guest Jean Wilund

    It’s so easy, when we are getting hit by one difficult thing after another, to wonder where God is. To cry out to Him, “Why aren’t You stopping it all?” Join us as guest Jean Wilund shares amazing and freeing insights and wisdom, discovered from her study of the book of Habakkuk, for anyone in the midst of these struggles. Get ready to embrace joy! About Jean Wilund Jean Wilund is fully convinced that we’ll never truly know and love the God of the Word apart from the Word of God. This conviction fuels her passion for everything she does, including writing, speaking, and serving her family and the body of Christ—particularly her husband, children, and grandtwins. Jean and Larry live in Lexington, SC and are members of Grace Bible Church. Jean’s Bible study, Embracing Joy: An 8-Week Transformational Bible Study of Habakkuk helps us discover how, during one of the darkest periods in history for God’s people, God moved His prophet Habakkuk from confused to confident and from panic to praise. God will do the same in us if we do what Habakkuk did. Jean’s latest book, Ease into the Bible: How to Wade into the Water of God’s Word with Confidence releases in August to help relive the intimidation factor out of understanding the pieces and parts of the Bible. For more information or to connect with Jean, visit her website, JeanWilund.com and subscribe to her podcast, It’s All About Him! Thanks to our sponsors on Patreon, we’re able to offer an edited transcript of the podcast! Karen: Welcome to the deep, everyone. Today’s podcast is going to be a lot of fun. Our guest, Jean Wilund, is going to dig deep into an amazing book of the Bible, Habakkuk, and share her insights. Erin, tell us all about the amazing Jean Wilund! Erin: Jean and I met several years ago at the Florida Christian Writers Conference, and I got to visit with her again this year. We had a great conversation about the transforming power of God’s Word which is wisdom we need on our writing journey. So welcome, Jean. Jean Wilund: Thank you so much. I’m so thrilled to be here with y’all.  What Does the Deep Mean? Erin: So Jean, what does the deep mean to you?  Jean Wilund: It means the deep things of God, which basically is the Word of God. I need the deep things of God, whether I’m gonna go deep into my circumstances or deep into understanding. My daughter, my youngest daughter, loves to free dive, not scuba dive, but free dive. But the thought of going deep into the water without scuba equipment is unnerving to me. But she said it is so peaceful, and I had a word picture of the deeper we go into God’s Word, the more peace it brings, no matter what we’re going through, no matter what’s going on up on the surface. The deep means to be grounded deep in God, grounded in His Word, and to embrace joy regardless of circumstances. Erin: I love that. So, you did a Bible study on Habakkuk during the Covid pandemic. What got you interested in writing a study about this very short book in very difficult times in our country? Unexpected Detours Jean Wilund: Well, I never anticipated doing a Bible study at all. But when Covid hit and everybody was sheltering in place, I was talking with one of my friends, and she said she’d just read the book of Habakkuk and how perfect it was for those times. So I read Habakkuk with the current situation in mind, and I was blown away. My next-door neighbor and I sat outside, distanced from each other, and talked about this book.  And then our pastor said, “I want the women’s ministry to do a four-week Bible study.” My neighbor and I discussed what, in those crazy times where we couldn’t get together in person as much, would help us the most? And we agreed we needed to know how to study the Bible for ourselves. A Perfect Fit! Jean Wilund: And hey, Habakkuk is only three chapters! So with a four-week Bible study, we’d study three weeks then have a whole extra week to discuss it all. So I did it. I used my transformational Bible study method and taught Habakkuk. I was talking with a friend about it, and she said, “Okay, that’s what we want at our church. A four-week study on just the book of Habakkuk.” So that’s how I wrote it as a study. And my friend’s agent was looking for a Bible study and my friend said, “Well, Jean just taught one on Habakkuk and it was fantastic.” So that’s how the study came about. It was not intentional, but it was so encouraging.   Habakkuk and Writers Erin: So, Jean, as you think about the book of Habakkuk, what truth do you feel applies to our writing lives? Jean Wilund: Well, Judah got into the mess that they were in because they said they’d do everything Moses told them, but before long they just did everything that was right in their own eyes. As Christian writers, we say that everything that we write is going to be for God’s glory, but then we get into it and it’s too easy to veer off track. To do what’s right in our eyes to get the numbers or the platform or whatever. Soon we’ve lost track of the reason that we felt called to write.  Like Judah, we let our eyes get off of God and focus instead on success and living the way we think we want to live.  But if we keep our eyes on the glory of God above all things, we’re going to love our writing journey. And we’ll be successful in God’s eyes and that’s all that matters.  Karen: It’ll also have an incredible impact on everyday life. Don and I have been dealing with one hit after another lately with health issues and unexpected major expenses. It’s tempting, when you’re in those kinds of situations, to focus on those problems and wondering what’s next. But if we keep our focus on God, on the fact that He loves us and none of this is a surprise to Him, then we don’t have to worry. We don’t have to have sleepless nights. We don’t have to be anxious about anything.  Jean Wilund: Right.  Remember God’s Character Erin: I also love, Jean, how your Habakkuk study encourages us to embrace joy. So how do we do that when hard trials come, maybe God is even is bringing hard trials into our lives… What do we do?  Jean Wilund: You know, it’s okay to go to God and ask, “How long, O Lord?” We all wrestle with God’s plans for us at times. The difference is when we wrestle with His character. What we see in Habakkuk is he goes to God because he doesn’t understand why God has allowed Judah to be so evil to their own people. So he is frustrated. It’s clear he’s been praying for a while, but God has been silent. Even so, Habakkuk has continued to pray. Then, when God does speak, the prophet doesn’t get the message he hoped for. God gave him a message that took him from saying, “God, why are you not doing anything?” to “Back up, God, You’ve gone too far now!”  Habakkuk’s Transformational Actions Jean Wilund: But I love what Habakkuk did, and it’s something that has been transformational in my life. In Habakkuk 2:1, he says, “I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what He will say to me and what I’ll answer concerning my complaint.” Habakkuk is pouring out his heart to God and now he wants to hear from Him. He’s telling God, “I want you to correct me.” So that’s one thing he did that we can do, too.  Another example from Habakkuk’s actions is how, earlier on in Habakkuk 1:12, he immediately started going through God’s character. In fact, that’s the first thing he says, “Are you not from Everlasting? Oh Lord, my God, my holy one.” Habakkuk roots himself in who God is before he tries to process what God has just told him. He calls God Yahweh, the God who wants to be in relationship. He calls him Elohim, the God, the sovereign God who created all things and is supreme over all things. And The Holy One. The Holy One Jean Wilund: Now, to be the holy one, God can’t even have the hint of doing anything wrong. So Habakkuk is saying, “God, this feels so wrong. Ah, but You can do no wrong. And so I’m deep breathing my trembling knees.” He says later on that it’s like death has entered his bones. He’s not being like, “Okay, so Babylon’s gonna come and destroy us, but it’s all good.” Habakkuk understands that it’s going to be awful, but God is so good and He would not ordain this if it wasn’t for their ultimate good. And Habakkuk 1:12, “We shall not die.” Because if Judah were to die, what would that do to God’s promise, right? How can a savior come through if not, as God promised, through Judah? A Promise to Sustain Us Jean Wilund: The promise that we have as Christians is the Holy Spirit, who gives us everything for life. The Spirit embodies us. There’s nothing that we lack to accomplish God purposes for us in our writing. And with the Spirit, we can embrace joy no matter what.  But we have to go to him continually and say, “Am I understanding Your call?” Because when we write a proposal and get great feedback on it, and then we send it out and everybody says no, that feels contradictory. Yet, like Habakkuk, we know that God doesn’t do wrong. So have we misheard him? Maybe. This may not be the time, or maybe this isn’t the book. Maybe this isn’t the audience or the publisher. It could be we needed to go through that to understand He’s still doing a work in us and in our writing, or He’s still putting the pieces and parts together.  Remember God’s Presence Erin: We’ve been doing a study at our church where we are studying God’s presence through the entire Bible. From the Garden of Eden to Abraham, His promises that He’s gonna bless all the nations. But when God promises that, they’re in the middle of history. They don’t see the fulfillment. Even today, Jesus came all those years ago, but there still hasn’t been the total restoration of everything. The day of judgment

    32 min

  3. 10/21/2024

    Do You Have What it Takes to Last? with Guest Deborah Raney

    Publishing is getting harder all the time. The author has to do so much that it can become utterly exhausting. And discouraging. Guest Deborah Raney shares what it takes now to have longevity in a publishing career. About Deborah Raney Deborah Raney’s first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Thirty years, forty-plus books, and numerous awards later, she’s still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her books have garnered multiple industry awards including the RITA® Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers’ Choice Award, Carol Award, and have three times been Christy Award finalists. Deb served on the executive board of the 2500-member American Christian Fiction Writers for eighteen years and teaches at writers conferences around the country. Deb’s latest release is Playing for Keeps. Find out more about Deborah Raney at her website. Thanks to our sponsors on Patreon, we’re able to offer an edited transcript of the podcast! Erin: Welcome, listeners. We’re so glad you’re here in the deep with us. We’re especially excited because we have a guest with us! It’s Deborah Raney, and Karen gets to introduce her! Karen: I don’t even remember when Deb and I met. It feels as though I’ve known her from my beginning in publishing, low over 40 years ago. We’ve known each other for a long time, and I’ve always been impressed by how everything that Deb does is so steeped in her faith in God. She always has a smile and always a sense of humor, and for somebody who’s been in publishing as long as she has, that either means she’s got a good grounding in faith or she’s nuts! Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the Worldwide Pictures film of the same title, and it launched Deb’s writing career. Now thirty years, forty-plus books, and numerous awards later, she’s still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. She, in fact, was given the 2024 ACFW Lifetime Achievement Award just a month or so ago for everything that she has done and has contributed to in publishing. She has been on the executive board of the 2,500 member American Christian Fiction Writers, and she teaches at writers’ conferences all around the country. She’s a Missouri transplant having moved with her husband, Ken, from their native Kansas. They love road trips and they take all kinds of fun trips and share pictures on Facebook. They also have Friday garage sale dates, which I love to watch on Facebook to see the goodies that they picked up. They love to spend time with their family and share breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard. Deb, thank you so much for joining us!  Deb: Thank you, Karen and Erin. It is so fun to be talking with you again. Erin: It is fun! And I kind of wish we were on your screened porch overlooking your wooded backyard.  Karen: I know! That’s what I was just saying! Deb: I wish so, too, except the birds make so much noise I don’t know if we could do a recording out here. But we love listening to them. Karen, I think maybe we met in New Orleans at a writers’ retreat about twenty-five years ago. Karen: Holy cow! Deb: Yeah, it’s been a while.  Karen: Well, I know it’s been a long time. You’ve been a part of my life forever, and I’ve been grateful for that.  Deb: Same here. Erin: Deb, let’s start off with what does the deep mean to you?  Deb: When I think of the deep, I think of God. The deepest place that I go is my faith. I will never live long enough—I’ve been in this business thirty years and I’ve been on this earth sixty-nine years, but I will never live long enough to understand and even imagine everything that God is. All that he has meant to me in my life in my relationships, in my career, he is the deep. Karen: I think that’s wonderful. Deb: It is. There are other things, and again, it all ties back to him. For example, just this past weekend I was with some longtime writer friends. We had a retreat and our conversations went deep. I love that kind of deep, too, where you know each other so well. You love each other so well that you can say what’s on your heart, what’s truly the good things and the hard things, and you know that that won’t change how those people feel about you because your roots with each other go deep.  Erin: Yeah.   Deb:  Lots of different ways to interpret that.  Erin: Wow. Yes. I love that. God has this way of binding us together in a deeper way than we could otherwise be because of his spirit. I think it just reaches out to others and we just, we are a body. That’s the thing, and it just, it shows. So yeah. That’s very cool. One of the things that we wanted to talk about with you was: what do you do as a writer to deal with discouragement? We wanted to discuss that with you because you’ve had a long career. I can’t imagine that you didn’t run into some discouragement along the way. Yet here you still are winning the Lifetime Achievement Award.  Deb: That felt really good, given those thirty tough years. Karen: Right! Erin: Tell us a little bit about your journey. What kind of discouragements have you faced and what did you do about them? Deb: I would have to say that right away in my writing career, I encountered discouragement. First of all, trying to submit that first manuscript and getting, I think, seventeen rejections before I was finally published. Even then, I know that I did not work as hard or write as long as a lot of my writer friends who stuck with it years and years and years before they were published. Comparison is not a good thing usually, but if you’re comparing yourself to the right people, you understand how fortunate you are and you can kind of put things in perspective and realize that while that was hard waiting those five months, or however long it might have been, some people waited twenty years. So be grateful for those things.  Erin: Right.  Deb: But then even after I had a lovely contract for three books with Bethany House, there came a roadblock. I submitted a book to them, and I had not finished the book yet. I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer, and I didn’t know how that book would end. They said, “We don’t see how it could possibly end well. You can submit it again once you’ve finished the book, but we’re going to reject it for now.”  Erin: Ouch. Deb: Yes, that hurt. It hurts to get rejected, especially by a publishing house that had now become my home. You know, this was my first publisher, and I loved everybody there. But God had other plans for that manuscript, and it ended up with another publisher. Another thing that’s happened—and my husband can tease me about it now—he says that I have shut down just about every publisher in the Christian publishing world. That’s not literally true, but I have very often, I don’t know why, but very often in my career I have been on the very tail end of a publisher’s fiction program. Or a certain line. I had the last book in the portrait series for Bethany House. I had the last book in Summerside Press before they shut down. I had the last book in Steeple Hill before they decided not to publish full length Christian fiction anymore. I had a wonderful five book contract with Abingdon Press, and after I had written three of the five books, they decided not to publish fiction any longer. That has just kind of been the story of my life. Of my writing life anyway, I will say. And that’s hard. It’s hard not to think that it’s all because you’re such a terrible writer, that that’s why they decided to close their fiction program. I know in my heart that isn’t really true, but it feels that way sometimes.  Erin: Well, not only that, but I can see why that would be extremely discouraging because when they shut down that line, I mean, are they gonna promote that? Deb: Exactly. Erin: You feel like you’ve birthed this baby and nobody is going to even know about it. That can be career killer, because publishers ask, “Why didn’t that book sell?” Deb: Yes, exactly. And that really is what happened. They did go ahead and publish all five books, but of course, their heart wasn’t in promoting fiction because they were on to other things. And that’s just the way. If I’ve learned anything, it’s just that that is the way that this business works. Things are constantly changing. You get an editor you love and she moves to a different publisher. You get a contract you love and that publisher shuts down. I mean, that’s just the way of things are. But the longer I have written, the more I’m able to see that every time something like that happens, God has something else in waiting in the wings for me. There was always a reason for it. Now, I may not know on this side of heaven what that reason is every single time, but when you walk with the Lord for as long as I have, you learn that whatever he’s doing is for my good and for his glory. That’s what I have always prayed that my writing world and life would be: to bring him glory. There comes a point where I don’t have to know the answers, because I trust him. I know that whatever it is, there’s a reason for it, whether I ever know that or not.  Karen: That’s the biggest thing, Deb, that you know you can trust him and you can rely on him. I’ve seen a lot of conversations online, had some conversations in person lately, with writers who are just so discouraged because things haven’t happened the way that they’d hoped they would. They’ve been around for a long time and they’re just feeling like they’re struggling. I was trying to find a support group of women on Facebook to recommend to some of my friends who’ve been struggling with discouragement, and yet the one gro

    31 min

  4. 10/07/2024

    3 Essentials for a Christian Writer's Life

    Writing is not an easy profession. Being a Christian writer can be even more difficult. These three essentials for a Christian writer’s life will ground you in your faith, enabling you to write and build a career with peace and confidence. But first, thank you to all our patrons on Patreon! You help make this podcast possible! Recently I listened to a couple of books that got me thinking about today’s topic. What is essential for a Christian writer’s life? We live in a busy world with a thousand things demanding our time and attention every day. I don’t think that’s overstating it. We’ve only got one life. How are we going to choose what to do with the time God gives us? What is our priority? Even if we were to weed out obvious things to say no to, like sin or clear distractions, that still leaves a multitude of demands, ideas, activities, and so on, to consider. Many of which you can make a good case for. The choices we make matter, because what you give your time and attention to is what shapes your life. That’s where those books inspired me. The first one is titled Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.  The subtitle was a revelation: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. It seems like today’s world is all about the urgent, unending pursuit of more—doing it all and having it all. This book is about deliberately, ruthlessly choosing to do less so you can focus on what matters most to you.   Today we want to step back from the myriad details of our lives. We want to step back from complicated plans and programs, endless to-do lists, and a plethora of shoulda woulda couldas. Instead, we’ll pare down to 3 essentials, or guiding principles, to help shape and guide your life as a Christian and a writer. God gave us our creative gifts for good purposes, so we want to ensure that we’re willing vessels, available anytime, anywhere, for the tasks God gives us.  We’ve used the term essentials, or guiding principles, but you can also call them core precepts, or a “rule of life.” By rule, we don’t mean legal regulations but rather a way of organizing your life toward a purpose.  Essential 1 – Abide in Christ   John 15:4-5 (ESV) says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Abiding in Christ means we WILL bear fruit. Not abiding in Christ means we won’t bear fruit. Apart from Christ we can do nothing. This is so simple, yet too often we fail to realize and carry out the dire necessity of this. Maybe in part because it’s hard to quantify what abiding in Christ looks like, or what it means in a practical sense. Abiding in Christ (or some translations use the word “remaining” in Christ) is more than just believing in Christ. As an article on Crossway.org puts it, it’s “staying vitally connected” to Christ. An article on DesiringGod.org describes abiding in Christ  as being “…attached to the vine in such a way that it is receiving all that the branch has to give…” The article goes on to say, “…abiding is believing, trusting, savoring, resting, receiving.” What does that look like in a practical, daily sense? The Crossway.org article says, “It is the lifelong extension of encountering Jesus.” That’s still probably going to look different for everyone, but I think one universal principle is to make encountering Jesus your daily mindset. Make Encountering Jesus Your Daily Mindset This is the essential. The rule of the day is to live in such a way as to believe and trust his promises, to savor and rest in his presence, to be constantly and expectantly open-handed to receive everything we need from him moment by moment. It’s to keep in the forefront of our mind that we’re working and living and resting in communion and in union with him. When we’re writing, when we’re plotting, when we’re doing a day job that might not be writing; when we get up in the morning, when we go to bed at night; when we brush our teeth, mow the lawn, run errands, fix dinner—all of this is done with a constant awareness of, and reliance on, our connection with the Vine. But mindfulness of this—or anything else for that matter—is a very real struggle in our culture today. Our brains are being assaulted with distractions, and being rewired to need them. That’s why this essential is also a practice. It’s something we have to choose to continually do, and it isn’t easy. Thankfully we don’t have to do this in our own power.  The Crossway.org article has this to say, “…Jesus does not leave us to ourselves. Even though he commands us to abide in him—and we are responsible to abide there, and guilty if we don’t abide—nevertheless he himself keeps us there. And we would not abide there without his crucial keeping.” So, don’t forget to ask for God’s help and know you’ll receive it. Do Frequent Checks We should also be frequently checking ourselves to make sure we aren’t neglecting or straying from the true Vine. Y’all know that we’re prone to do this. The Crossway.org article puts it like this: “…we are often tempted to find our life-giving sap from another plant.” We’re prone to disobedience, apathy, forgetfulness, or just plain drifting. The good gifts and desires God has given us—like creativity and writing—have a tendency to become distorted. That’s the very last thing we want if we’re going to have something of value to share with the world. Making abiding in Christ an essential, a life rule, rather than just a good idea or a random desire will help us fight those tendencies and truly bear fruit both in our lives and in our writing. This essential also does the most important thing of all: it helps us love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37-38 that this is the first and greatest commandment. Essential 2 – Build & Nurture Relationships Our next essential is to build and nurture relationships. This is in keeping with our design. We were created for relationship by a relational God. We can’t flourish if we’re not living according to our design. That said, we want to stress that how this plays out in each person’s life will be very different. Some of us thrive in the midst of a large community of friendships and networks. Some of us do better with fewer relationships. Too many people becomes overwhelming. No matter what this looks like for you, the point is that you make relationships an essential in your life. We get strength from our community of friends.  We carry each others’ burdens (Galatians 6:28). We learn in 1 thes 5:11 that We encourage each other and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We teach each other (Colossians 3:16). We help each other and have each other’s backs (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). We sharpen each other (Proverbs 27:17). We pray for each other (James 5:16) We comfort each other (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) We simply can’t live a “Lone Ranger” life and expect to thrive. We need all the things relationships offer, and other people need those same things from us in return. In our busy lives today, relationships suffer. They take time and energy, two very precious commodities, so we must make relationships an essential if they’re to flourish. As writers, we need to be writing out of our deep love for people, our connection with them, and our understanding of them. That comes from our journey of doing life with people. Of being vulnerable and walking with others in their vulnerabilities. Hanging in there through the glory, and mess, and triumphs, and failures. We earn the right to speak to others when we’re in the trenches with them. That’s also where we learn to shift our writing from being writer focused—as in “I just want to tell my story”—to being reader focused—as in, “How can I best serve readers?”  Loving God with all our hearts is the greatest commandment, but Matthew 22:39 tells us that loving others is the second. We simply can’t do that if we have no relationship with them. However, please don’t hear us saying you have to spend every minute of your life with people. Many writers are introverts who need down time and alone-time. What we’re saying is that building and nurturing relationships should be a guiding principle in how you’re spending your life and what you’re doing with your time. Ask yourself: Is what I’m doing right now ultimately going to help or hinder my relationships with others? Will I be investing or isolating? That hour you take for solitude may be exactly what you need in order to recharge and be ready to engage others with the best version of you. Essential 3 – Eliminate Hurry Our last essential is to eliminate hurry from your life. This might seem like a strange thing for us to pick as an essential, but a book called The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer makes a profound case for this idea. I highly recommend all Christians read it. It’s paradigm-shifting. It’s near impossible to effectively carry out the first two essentials we mentioned if we’re always in a hurry. How can we abide when we’re in a rush? How can we build and nurture relationships when we’re always on the go? We’ve probably all been on the receiving end of an appointment or conversation with someone who’s in too much of a hurry to listen. Whether it’s a doctor or a good friend, the result is the same. We don’t feel heard or seen, which leaves us feeling uncared for. Think of this third principle—to eliminate hurry—as a practical way to carry out the first two. It’s a way to make space in our lives for what matters most. Also, think of it as a way to love yourself. We want to love

    22 min

  5. 09/16/2024

    222 – Strategies for Writers’ Conferences with Guest Grace Fox

    Attending a writers’ conference can be intimidating, even overwhelming. If you want to make the most of your time at a writers’ conference, guest Grace Fox has some specific strategies to help you do exactly that. And some of them are even about your writing. But first, thank you to all our patrons on Patreon! You help make this podcast possible! Grace Fox Grace Fox is a popular speaker at women’s events internationally. She inspires hope, courage, and transformation through God’s Word. She has served as a career missionary for more than 30 years. Grace has written fourteen books and published hundreds of articles in magazines. She’s a member of the First 5 Bible Study writing team for P31 Ministries and is a co-host for a podcast called Your Daily Bible Verse. Her book, Finding Hope in Crisis: Devotions for Calm in Chaos, won the Golden Scroll Devotional Book of the Year Award in 2021. Keeping Hope Alive: Devotions for Strength in the Storm won the same award in 2022. Her newest devotional is titled Names of God: Living Unafraid. You can learn all about her at GraceFox.com.  Thanks to our sponsors on Patreon, we’re able to offer an edited transcript of the podcast Erin Taylor Young: Welcome listeners into the Deep. Today is part two of our interview on writers’ conferences with Grace Fox, and we are discussing specific strategies for making conferences work for you.  Karen Ball: So when writers attend conferences, what is helpful and what isn’t?  Well, many writers wonder why they should spend the money to attend a writers’ conference if they don’t get a contract from it. How do they justify the expense to a spouse? Or maybe you think, “I’m ready to be published. I’ve got this,” but what if the professionals at the conference don’t agree?  Haven’t they just wasted all that money for nothing? Grace Fox: Absolutely not, because attending conferences is about growing relationships with those very professionals. It’s about laying a strong foundation for your career. You go to conferences to learn as much as you possibly can about the craft of writing. Which means you have to go in with a teachable spirit. To say, “I’m here to learn,” and take in as much as you can. That’s the first strategy.  But conferences––all those workshops––can feel like information overload at times, so the next strategy is to tell yourself it’s okay to skip out on a workshop if you need to decompress. It’s so helpful to take time to get your notes in order and to get your thoughts put together again, or to just go to your room and have a quiet time and pray.  With that in mind, it’s always a good idea to have friends praying for you as attend the conference. Because you don’t know what God’s purpose is for having you go there.  Karen Ball: Exactly! Sometimes He calls you to go to a writer’s conference and it has nothing to do with your writing career. It has to do with you meeting people who get you on the right track as far as your perspective, understanding that God may be calling you to write something for one person, and if you write something and only one person reads it and it changes that person’s life, it’s worth it. The expense is worth it. The investment is worth it. It’s all worth it because you’re doing what God has asked you to do. Grace Fox: That’s beautiful. It really is about obedience. And in my career with writing, I’ve met so many people who think that end all is writing a book—gotta write a book. Gotta write a book. But one thing I learned at a conference is that that there is a huge audience out there with magazines. Think about it. Your book may only sell 2000 copies in its lifetime. But one magazine article can reach a quarter of a million people. You don’t know those things unless you start going to conferences and learning from those people that are in the know. Karen Ball: That’s why it’s so important to get your expectations straight, to go in with an open mind and an open-hearted spirit and say, “What is it you want from me, Lord?” Not, “What are You going to give me, Lord?,” but “What do You want from me?” Grace Fox: Because His plan may be to put you on the bridge to something entirely different. Erin Taylor Young: You know, I love, Grace, how supportive your husband was. He justified the expense because God told you to go. And I love what you said about it being an education. I mean, people go back to school all the time and nobody questions that expense to pay for a class or whatever. This is the same thing. You’re paying for a lot of classes. And believe me,  it’s cheaper than college tuition! Grace Fox: Amen. And again, the relationships that you make at conferences can last for years. I am still friends with some of the women that I met in 1999. We still communicate and [00:08:00] support each other in our writing. Erin Taylor Young: Well, I met Karen at a writing conference.  Karen Ball: Exactly. And so much came out of that, even beyond publishing Erin’s book, Surviving Henry. It’s amazing what God can accomplish if we’re open to letting Him do his will and bring about His plans instead of ours. And Grace, I loved what you said in part one of this interview about not stopping until God tells you to.  Grace Fox: That was a quote from Matt Anderson.  Karen Ball: We all need to remember that, especially when we experience what you did, Grace. Where you told us in the first part of this podcast that you were so sure when you went to that first conference that you had everything down, that you were ready to be published, and you weren’t. Or when we’re’re told that we need to learn how to do this or this or this better… That that can be just devastating.  But from the editor’s side of the desk at writer’s conferences, I can say met a lot of wonderful writers, but not very many who were ready, at that moment, to be published. Writers have to spend time studying, writing, and  learning the craft. And so if you go to a writer’s conference and they’re telling you that you need to do this and this and this, don’t look at that as something depressing. And don’t let it make you want to give up! Look at that as your orders, your marching orders. Don’t stop writing until God tells you to do so. Grace Fox: That’s right because we want to do what God’s called us to do with excellence. Erin Taylor Young: So, Grace, you were digging in and learning everything you could, and when you learned about articles, you explored that as a way to hone your craft. And to learn how to write to deadline. And you were building a reputation amongst editors.  Karen Ball: One caution though, again from the editor’s side of the desk. We’re talking about making professional connections, and that’s great. But it was obvious to me when someone came to talk to me or sit at my table during a meal, and it was just to make a connection with an editor. It wasn’t because they cared anything about me as a person, or they were looking at me as an individual, or that God had asked them to sit next to me. It was that they thought talking to me was a strategic connection.  It’s not about “connections” so much as relationship. The people that I met at these conferences, who shared passions for the things that I had passions for, who came to me with a teachable spirit like you’re talking about… Those are the people who are still in my life because they know me so well and they know God so well and we can speak truth to each other and encourage and challenge each other. So focus more on building relationships. Just ask God who He wants you to meet. He’s got His reasons for directing you where He does. Erin Taylor Young: Yeah, I love that. Especially because there are some conferences editors can’t always control who their appointments might be with. But it’s lovely to just have someone come along and just chat with you, to just to talk about what’s happening in the writing world or even just to visit.  Grace Fox: So another wise strategy is to watch your attitude when you approach the editors. Always remember, they are people as well who may be dealing with hard things, who may have  just had a tragedy in their family, but here they are back at work. We just don’t know. So be careful, if an editor looks disinterested, that it may have nothing to do with you or your writing. Maybe they’re a little preoccupied because they’ve got something personal going on.  There are all kinds of dynamics that happen at a conference, so purpose to be sensitive to those dynamics, whether with editors or the other attendees. Some are discouraged. Oh my goodness! I’ve been at conferences where a writer gets a rejections and that person is in tears. So go in as someone who’s willing to minister as well as be ministered to. Erin Taylor Young: Just know that God might send you to a writing conference for something that you can offer to someone else––some thought, some prayer, some who knows what, and word of encouragement––and you might be there for that. And that’s still being obedient and still being used by God and still contributing. To the overall words of truth going forth in, in this world. We can contribute even if we don’t write a word. What if we encouraged somebody who then wrote something that that just took off? Changed people’s lives? God is so much bigger than we realize. Karen Ball: So let me recap some strategies or going to writer’s conferences that we’ve hit on here. First of all, make sure you go to conferences because God is calling you to do so. If you need to justify the expense, you can honestly say that God is calling you to this, that this is an investment in what He’s asking you to do. The next strategy is to check your expectations at the door. We talked about false expectations, why not go with no

    22 min

  6. 09/02/2024

    Are Writers' Conferences Worth It? with Guest Grace Fox

    Writers’ conferences cost time and money, so are they really worth it? Absolutely! But not necessarily for the reasons you think. Guest Grace Fox shares how God moved her to attend a writers’ conference, how many mistakes she made there, and how God miraculously provided for her and used it all to bless her far more than she ever imagined. About Grace Fox Grace Fox is a popular speaker at women’s events internationally. She inspires hope, courage, and transformation through God’s Word. She has served as a career missionary for more than 30 years. Grace has written fourteen books and published hundreds of articles in magazines. She’s a member of the First 5 Bible Study writing team for P31 Ministries and is a co-host for a podcast called Your Daily Bible Verse. Her book, Finding Hope in Crisis: Devotions for Calm in Chaos, won the Golden Scroll Devotional Book of the Year Award in 2021. Keeping Hope Alive: Devotions for Strength in the Storm won the same award in 2022. Her newest devotional is titled Names of God: Living Unafraid. You can learn all about her at GraceFox.com.  Thanks to our sponsors on Patreon, we’re able to offer an edited transcript of the podcast! Erin: Welcome, listeners. We’re so excited that you’re here for another day, another show! We have a guest, which is also exciting.   Karen: Our guest is someone that you all know. She’s been here before, and we’re so excited that she’s here with us again now. Her name is Grace Fox. She’s the writer who lives on a boat. She speaks at women’s events internationally and inspires hope, courage, and transformation through God’s word. She’s written fourteen books and published hundreds of articles in magazines. She’s a member of the First 5 Bible study writing team for P31 Ministries and a co-host for the podcast Your Daily Bible Verse. She is just so smart you guys, and she’s here to share with us about conferences and other things. Welcome, Grace.  Grace: Thank you so much for having me back.  Erin: Yes, we’re excited about it. So let’s start with our same lovely question that we just love digging into. Grace, what does the deep mean to you?  Grace: Well, that word reminds me of my childhood, standing on the diving board at the swimming pool. At the end of swimming classes, the teacher would say, “Okay, everybody, you get to jump off the diving board.” I would just die inside because the thought scared me half to death. Getting up those stairs and standing on the diving board with a lineup of people waiting patiently behind me while I worked up the courage to jump into the deep end, that’s what I think of. In my faith journey, it’s scary sometimes when God calls me to a place where he says, “Okay, Grace, I want you to jump.” The good thing to know is that he’s always there to catch me. Like the lifeguard, in the goodness of his heart, he’d be down there with his arms straight up going, “It’s okay, Grace, you can jump. I’ll catch you.”  Karen: That’s great.  Erin: Conference season is kind of rolling along here in the fall. I would love to hear, Grace, about your very first conference because we were talking a little bit earlier and I know you’ve got some good stories about your first conference.  Grace: Yeah, so I started my writing career thinking I was going to develop a line of greeting cards. I found a woman who could draw, because I can’t draw to save my life. I came up with the concepts and we put together ten sample cards.  Then we thought, “Now what do we do with them?” She really wasn’t interested in doing any more than drawing. She had a little hobby farm she was busy with, and so I said, “Okay, I’ll figure out the marketing. I haven’t got a clue, but I’ll figure it out.” I remember sitting down at my computer and Googling, like for the first time, Christian greeting card publisher. Up came the Florida Christian Writers Conference. I didn’t even know that such a thing existed. I thought, “Wow, that looks interesting.” I scrolled through it and looked to see what faculty members were going to be there. Lo and behold, Dayspring was going to be there! Karen: Wow.  Grace: My first thought was, “That looks so good. I should go. Oh, but that’s way beyond my reach. That’s so far. I can’t do this, I can’t afford it.” You know. I came up with all the reasons why not. That was in August.  Erin: Where were you living at the time that it was far?  Grace: I was living on a little island off the coast of British Columbia, working at a Christian camp, and we were living on paid support, so the thought of coming up with the money to do this was just beyond me. Then the thought of getting there was another issue. Erin: Wait a minute. That really was far. I mean, let’s just point that out for our listeners. You were far, okay, and you were financially challenged. Those were both true.  Grace: Yep. As far as distance goes, it would take me two ferries just to get to the mainland, and then I would have to fly from either Vancouver or Seattle. If I were to go to Seattle to fly, it would be about a twelve hour trip, ten or twelve hours with two ferries. Erin: Wow.  Grace: So it was a big deal. It was a very big deal. I remember thinking, and arguing about that, and then just kind of shutting it down and thinking, “That’s impossible.” But the thought never really left the back of my mind. In October I went back and looked at the site again, and it was like somebody just gripped me and said, “You need to be there.” I shared that with my husband and he just said, “If God is wanting you to go, then I will support you with that. We will make it work.”  Karen: Yeah.  Grace: God actually did make it work in an amazing way, because a couple weeks later I went to a teeny tiny missions conference at a teeny tiny church. Literally walked across the cow pastor to get there.  It was on a Friday evening. The pastor opened the service by saying, “Everybody stand up, turn around and say hi to somebody around you.” I did that, and lo and behold, the woman behind me was there because her husband was one of the speakers for that weekend. But I’d graduated from Bible college with her more than twenty years before, and I hadn’t seen her since. I’d had no contact with her.  I went, “Lynn, so great to see you! What have you been doing with yourself?” She told me that she was a travel agent working out of her own home. I remember saying, “Hey, give me your information because I’ll keep you in mind if I ever need to go somewhere.” When it just seemed like God was saying, “You are going to Florida,” I phoned her up and I said, “Lynn, here’s the deal. I need to get to Florida on this day, and I need to get back on this day and you know, I need you to get me there as inexpensively as possible out of Vancouver or out of Seattle. “ She said, “Let me see what I can do.” She called me back and said, “Grace, I have never seen anything like this before, ever, so give me your credit card right now.” I did and she booked me a flight on the days that I needed it. It was about $150 round trip.  Erin: No!  Grace: That was a miracle. And let me tell you, I didn’t know the whole story until I met her at a women’s retreat years later. She goes, “Grace, by the way, did I ever tell you what happened after I booked your ticket? A disclaimer came up on the screen that said that price was a mistake. They’d honor every ticket purchased on that price, but that was a mistake.” Erin: That’s God.  Grace: And that’s how I got to my first writer’s conference.  Erin: That is amazing. Look at how God provided. You stepped forward in faith each time and God gave you that encouragement along the way and that prompting, and then he made it work. Miraculously.  Grace: He did more even because we had a house that had been on the market for two years in Washington state. When we moved to Canada, we’d put our house on the market. It sold just before Christmas that year. But I was still several hundred dollars shy of what I needed to go to the conference.  About a week before the conference, I remember sitting at the kitchen table, literally crying because I felt like this was way bigger than me. I was thinking, “I’m on a white water rafting trip, and I’m hanging on for dear life, and this is way bigger than me.”  Into our mailbox came a letter from escrow that said they’d made a mistake in figuring out how much they owed us after the house sold. The amount of money they said they owed us was, almost to the penny, what was left that I needed to get to Florida. Karen: Don’t you love how God does that? I mean, that’s amazing. I guess it’s pretty clear God wanted you there.  Grace: I think that’s another reason why I cried. I thought, “He’s in charge of this and this is bigger than me. Let’s just hang on for dear life and see where this goes.” I went to the conference because I knew I was supposed to go. Erin: Yes, it’s very clear.  Karen: How did that conference go for you?  Grace: My greeting cards were nicely rejected by the Dayspring editor, and they’ve never gone anywhere to this day. That would’ve been like 1999, and they’ve never gone anywhere. But it was, like I say, the carrot before a little donkey’s nose. I just followed that carrot and it led me to the Florida Christian Writers Conference. While I was there, I went to every workshop I could possibly go to because I wanted to get my money’s worth out of the thing! Erin: Yeah.  Grace: I went to the sessions especially about writing for magazines. That was where I ultimately broke into writing. I was just doing what the editors said. I played by the rules, and I got the Christian Writers Market Guide, and I studied it like a Bible. I did

    26 min

  7. 08/19/2024

    Are You Ready for Attacks? Part 3

    There is no escaping our humanity. But we can address those elements in our hearts, minds, and spirits that make us, as people and writers, vulnerable to attacks from the enemy of our souls. Attacks that seem, nowadays, to happen more and more often. Come explore the solutions to those vulnerabilities so you are ready. But first, thank you to all our patrons on Patreon! You help make this podcast possible! The Bad News: We’re ALL Vulnerable No one likes to be vulnerable. Heck, we don’t even like to admit we’re vulnerable, especially to the enemy of our souls. But as fallible humans––yes, even someone as wise as we are––our strong emotions that can lead us astray, giving the enemy a foothold to launch attacks against us and tear apart our faith and trust in God. The Good News: You’re Normal All of the emotions we’ll talk about today are a normal part of life. They aren’t wrong or dangerous in and of themselves. But when we don’t take them to God, seeking His guidance and peace, His resolution, things can go very bad very fast. So let’s dive in. Vulnerability #1: Anger Scripture makes it clear God gets angry, but His anger is always righteous. Since we’re created in His image, we, too, have the potential for anger. Unfortunately, our anger often isn’t righteous, but self-focused. We perceive some slight, some insult, some betrayal––and they all may be real––and we get angry. A reader writes us a letter taking us to task for something we’ve written. Our book receives a one-star review for reasons that have nothing to do with the book itself. Publishers decide to cancel or not renew contracts. Anger is often understandable. But when we nurse that anger, when we let it coax us into bitterness and a desire for retribution, when we continue to visit it and feed it, we have opened a door to the enemy’s attacks. Satan loves our anger And satan loves it when we nurse our anger, when we recount it to others and do everything but surrender it to the Father. The longer anger dwells in your heart, the more likely satan is to fuel it. To increase your frustration, to compound the negative feelings and thoughts with any issue that arises, whether it’s connected to the source of your anger or not. And before you know it, you are under attack, and more focused on serving your anger than serving your Lord. Solutions for the vulnerability of Anger Remember Ephesians 4:26-27: “Don’t sin by letting anger control you…for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” If you’re angry, be sure you are controlling that emotion and not the other way around. Seek resolution. Address the problem rather than the person who attacks you. Stick to the facts of the situation, where you felt wronged. Seek to communicate in a calm, reasoned tone. Don’t fall into the trap of yelling or letting your emotions take control. Instead, let God lead you as you try to talk the issue out.  Know when to let it go. Some situations cannot be resolved. If your anger is taking up too much of your time and energy, if it’s leading you into resentfulness or bitterness, you need to surrender it to God. Holding on to anger hurts you far more than anyone else. Vulnerability #2: Pain Physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain. It all strikes at the heart of what we believe, at the heart of our trust in our loving Father. Too often, our response to such pain is to pull back, to separate ourselves from others. Or to think God has forgotten us or is ignoring our suffering. That He doesn’t care. Or, even worse, that we must not have heard Him right when He tasked us to write for Him, otherwise He wouldn’t let us go through this pain. But those reactions only make things worse. Pain married with isolation and doubt is dangerous and becomes an open door to satan’s attacks. Instead, lean into the pain and try the following: Solutions for the vulnerability of Pain Know what Scripture says about pain. For example: 1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” See how it says AFTER you’ve suffered, and not IF? 2 Cor 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Let God in to your pain.  Justin Jahanshir, on Jamesriver.church, shares this wisdom: Bring your pain to God, don’t run from him… Fill your life with God’s Word and God’s people… Don’t be filled with worry, overflow with worship… Believe that God will turn your sorrow into great joy… Vulnerability #2: Injustice Injustice is so hard to deal with. Whether it’s false accusations (“She stole my story!”), or untrue attacks on our reputation (“If he was a real Christian he’d never write something like that!”), or flat-out lies told about us (“Did you hear? She’s turned her back on God!”), everything inside of us wants to defend ourselves. But God calls on us to leave these attacks to Him. NEVER?? Oh, I can hear you now: “Never? Never defend ourselves in the face of injustice?” It’s a hard admonition, isn’t it? I struggle with it too. When someone treats me or those I love unjustly, everything in my flesh wants to rear up and defend against those false accusers. It’s a normal, human reaction. But our behavior isn’t based on normal human reactions, is it? It’s based on following our Lord. And His instructions are clear. God’s Instructions for handling injustice If you’re not sure about that, read Romans 12 in its entirety, giving special attention to the following verses: 14: “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.” 17-21: “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the LORD. Instead, if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” And God gives us even more instructions in 1 Peter 2: 19-25: “ God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. “He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.” No retaliation! 1 Peter goes on: “He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.” Let God Defend! So when injustice hits, don’t open yourself up to even more attacks by trying to defend yourself. Let Almighty God defend us and grant us justice. Easy to say, but How do we do that? Solutions for the vulnerability of Injustice Remember, we live in a fallen world. Again, the enemy isn’t those who treat us unjustly, but satan. He moves those without God to do terrible things, especially against God’s children. He moves them to lie and deceive, to attack and spread injustice. Social media is a veritable playground for the enemy’s lies and evil. We’ve all faced attacks there. But make no mistake, it is satan’s lies and evil. He is the enemy, not the people attacking us. So speak God’s Scriptures right to satan. Trust me on this, he will flee. Prepare your heart and spirit ahead of time. Knowing that we live in a fallen world with fallen people, and knowing that it’s only a matter of time until someone––by the enemy’s prodding or from their own brokenness––treats us unjustly, fortify your heart and spirit with God’s word. Let Scripture protect you Let Scripture such as the following verses sink deep into your heart and spirit to protect you and keep your focus on God: “Take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.  Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord…Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you.” (Heb 12:12-14) “For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed ; the offspring of the wicked will perish. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.” (Psalms 37:28-29) “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell

    24 min

  8. 08/05/2024

    Recentering Your Writer's Heart

    Recentering your writer’s heart is not just a privilege, but a necessity! In our busy lives, it’s easy to get off kilter. We each need to take a moment and examine our focus, to ensure it’s on the only one deserving of our trust: Almighty God. And Psalm 40 is here to help you do exactly that! But first, thank you to all our patrons on Patreon! You help make this podcast possible! Can you all believe that it’s already the second half of 2024? I don’t know about you guys, but it feels to me like this year is rushing by. If you’re considering a midyear or third quarter review, or you’re taking stock of the things you’ve accomplished, or haven’t yet accomplished, or you’re feeling stuck, or frustrated, or you just want to make sure you’re on the right path, have we got some encouragement for you! It’s a chance to recenter our hearts and thoughts, and a chance to check our behavior. It’s all conveniently found in Psalm 40. I encourage writers to consider memorizing this psalm—at the least beginning of it—in order to help you dwell on it. Then you can meditate on it even if you don’t have your Bible open or with you. It’s full of life lessons for writers. WAIT PATIENTLY “I waited patiently for the Lord…” Psalm 40:1a (CSB) I love how this Psalm opens. If you remember nothing else, or read no farther in Psalm 40, this alone is still so powerful in the application to our lives as Christians and writers. “I waited patiently.” If only we could look back on our writing career and on our life and say we did that—we waited patiently.  But we didn’t wait for just anything, we waited for the Lord. God is the one who is in charge of the universe, in charge of our lives, and in charge of our careers. He opens doors, he closes doors, and he leads us in his timing. God will act on our behalf. No matter what our situation is right now, we’re not forgotten, we’re not an afterthought. We just need to wait patiently, because here’s what the rest of verse 1 says: “…and he turned to me and heard my cry for help.” God sees and God hears. He’s looking at you even now. Turned to you. Some translations say “inclined” to you. Your cries for help don’t go unheeded. Whatever you’re facing right now, it’s not unknown to God. But we do have to trust in God’s timing and his sovereign plan. Our job is to ask for help and then wait patiently. Resist the temptation to FRET Now, we all know this isn’t as easy as it sounds. While we’re trying to wait patiently and trust that God sees, hears, and has a plan, we’re going to be tempted, of course, to fret. To wonder and worry and think about all the things that could go wrong, or all the ways we think God is failing. And that’s exactly what we have to resist.  Think of this midyear recentering as giving you something positive to do: wait patiently for the Lord, and something negative to resist: fretting and worrying. When we did our series on being ready for attacks, we talked about knowing our vulnerabilities. This is the same idea. If we’re supposed to wait patiently, we know we’re probably going to be vulnerable to attacks of fret and fear. God ACTS TO HELP US Let’s face it, sometimes our patience is needed through some very difficult situations. Here’s how the next verse in Psalm 40 begins: “He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay…” Psalm 40:2a (CSB) A desolate pit? Other translations say things like horrible pit, slimy pit, pit of destruction. Now, we know the Christian publishing industry can be difficult, but a pit of death? It can feel that way. For example, what if you feel your career is dying?  Have you ever felt like the situation you’re facing is hopeless? It might be illness, or a huge publishing nightmare, or a problem you can’t see your way out of. I have great news: God specializes in impossible things. We might feel like we’re drowning in trials, and it’s okay to acknowledge that life is hard. But don’t forget to catch the first four words of the verse: “He brought me up.” Up from where? From the pit. He always does. You know why? The pit is no match for God’s almighty power.  But God doesn’t just lift us up, he does more. Listen to the whole verse now: “He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure.” Psalm 40:2 (CSB) God acts to help us by lifting us up, and then he sets us in a place of safety and security. We have a God who IS a rock, a fortress. When we walk on the sure foundation of God’s truth, we are secure.  Resist the temptation to FORce YOUR OWN WAY OUT Even while we know that God is the one who lifts us up and puts us on a secure path, we face the temptation to short circuit waiting by scrambling to find our own way out, to stubbornly force our way onto some path we think will get us out of whatever pit we’re in, whether it’s the path God has for us or not.  Of course we’re not saying we should never try to help ourselves, only that we should never move ahead of God’s leading in doing so. God has the plan. We need to follow it and resist the temptation to claw our own way out, because our own plan is not placing our feet on the Rock.  God CHANGES OUR PERSPECTIVE Have you ever wondered why life seems to work this way? Why we face trials and struggles and have to wait on God to help us? We could maybe blame it on Adam and Eve, who thought they’d forge their own path to wisdom and ate the fruit God had forbidden them. That certainly highlights our problem with perspective: We tend to think we know best, and that the one who created us doesn’t. But when we wait patiently for the Lord, and he brings us up from the pit, and he sets us on a secure path, guess what happens next? He changes our perspective to one that reflects the truth of all reality. Here’s how the next verse in Psalm 40 begins: “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” Psalm 40:3a (CSB) First notice that it’s God who puts the song in our mouths, a song of praise to him. He gives us the right perspective on not just our trials, our writing, and our life, but also on humanity’s place in creation. Big news: We are not God. He is. And he is to be praised. He alone deserves praise for who he is and what he does. In God’s plan, God gets the glory, not us. Second, when we’re praising God, we’re focusing on him. Our focus has moved off of our pain and difficulty. We have something wonderful to sing about—he’s lifted us up from the pit. And we’re left with gratitude and love for the God who saves us. Resist the temptation to fall back into your old way of thinking Ah, if only that would last! But as humans, we easily slip back into our old ways of thinking. Like the hymn writer of Come Thou Fount says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it…” We need to resist the temptation to hang on to, or drift back into our old patterns of self-sufficiency. That’s hard because it’s ingrained in our culture, this notion that humanity is the savior of itself. That’s a lie. We’re not our savior, God is. We cannot praise God when we’re busy praising ourselves.  OUR SITUATION RESULTS IN A WITNESS TO OTHERS There is an exciting thing about us waiting patiently, and God hearing, acting, and changing our perspective, resulting in us praising him. It’s told in the rest of verse 3: “Many will see and fear, and they will trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3b (CSB)  Our whole experience becomes a witness that can lead others to know and trust in God.  Our trials are never wasted. First, they change us, but also they are a light shining in the darkness for others to see. That’s astounding. We get to participate in a show of God’s glory, in bringing hope to this weary world. resist the temptation to hide But as we’ve acknowledged, sometimes the struggles we face are so awful, or it produces such shame that we’d rather no one knew. But this is the very thing we need to resist. We must resist the temptation to hide the reality of our lives. TRUSTING GOD RESULTS IN HAPPINESS We need to be transparent so God can show others how he is acting in our lives. Whatever pit we fell into, or whatever ordeal we’ve gone through, that’s all part of who we’ve become and who we’re continuing to become. It’s part of the tapestry that God is weaving of our lives. We need to trust him with that.  Conveniently, Psalm 40 goes on to tell us what the benefit of trusting God is. Here’s verse 4: “How happy is anyone who has put his trust in the Lord…” Psalm 40:4a (CSB) Some translations use the word happy, some use the word blessed. But the idea is this: putting our trust in God means we’re putting ourselves in the care of our almighty, sovereign God, the God who hears us, turns to us, lifts us up from the pit, and changes our perspective. Under God’s protection we can rest and find peace. That’s where we find our state of blessedness, of happiness, even in the midst of difficulties.  Resist the temptation to turn to self or humanity as a source of salvation Yes, there is still a caution for us, a temptation to resist. Putting our trust in the Lord means we don’t turn to human wisdom, or self sufficiency for rescue. That’s exactly what the rest of verse 4 says: “How happy is anyone who has put his trust in the Lord and has not turned to the proud or to those who run after lies!” Psalm 40:4 This can be difficult when our culture is screaming at us to do it all our way, to be “free” of any outside constraint, and trust in ourselves. Or to trust in the current person trying to sell us happiness. We need to resist that if we’re truly going to trust in the Lord. REMEMBER THE WORKS OF THE LORD  Is God deserving of that trust? Why? Check out verse 5 of Psalm 40: “Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have

    19 min
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About

Encouragement, refreshment, and truth from writers, for writers.

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  • Creator
    Karen Ball & Erin Taylor Young
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2024
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Karen Ball & Erin Taylor Young
  • Show Website
    Write from the Deep