Following the Call to Write
by Diana Sharples @DianaSharples
There was a rush of inspiration and a thrill of hope when
I first felt called to write for Jesus. I'd been writing my whole life, but
suddenly I had a sense of "this is it!" After all, if God is with me,
who can be against me. Right?
The problem is this feeling is born in the human heart.
Yes, I felt a calling, and over the years since, the Lord has reminded me that
I have been called. But like a newborn baby that needs time to learn to walk,
the calling was just the beginning of my journey. I had a lot of work to do
before I could see any rewards.
It was hard work and demanded a lot of time, dedication,
and financial resources. I experienced the sting of harsh criticisms and the
disappointment of vaguely worded rejections. I went through times when the
market for my genre dried up and no one would even look at my work. I asked God
what He was doing. If I was truly "called," why were all the doors
closing? Even after getting published, I struggled with marketing - a job I was
completely unprepared for. Over the years, I have doubted my calling, wondering
if what I felt in that initial rush was my own desires, not God's will. During
those times, the Lord always brought some comfort, some encouragement, some new
inspiration.
But He never took away the hard work.
Recently, someone asked me what my idea of success was
and suggested that I shouldn't be focusing on publication and marketing.
Rather, I should be writing only for God, for my audience of One, for whatever
He was trying to show me in the process. I've heard this mantra before, but not
exactly used for sound Scriptural purposes. It's used to console the writer
who is struggling, or even in a patronizing manner when a writer might not have
developed the "chops" he or she needs for publication. It's also
false consolation that suggests a writer doesn't need to struggle for
excellence, but just the act of writing something is enough.
Think about this. Would we ever tell a person called to,
say, dentistry that he shouldn't go to college or work toward a thriving
practice because pulling teeth in his garage for Jesus is enough? Would we ever
give this kind of advice to people in any other industry?
And who are we to say what plans God has for another
person?
This doesn't mean that every person who feels compelled
by God to put words on a page will be published or become a bestseller. It
certainly doesn't mean the doors of opportunity will fly open and the world
will embrace our Holy Spirit-inspired brilliance the moment we put it out
there.
I believe that writing - or pulling teeth, or raising kids,
or entering the ministry - for our audience of One means becoming a partner with
Him on a journey toward excellence. Scripture often refers to a process of
purification in somewhat violent terms: removing the dross from the silver,
burning the chaff from the wheat, being thrown and molded on a potter's wheel.
The journey God has put me on has involved years of "purification" that likely won't be fully accomplished this side of
heaven ... and for that I am grateful. He has sustained me as I've struggled to
become a better writer and when fluctuations in the industry made things look
bleak. I'm not silver yet. There's still a lot of chaff. My pot is rather
lopsided. But I've learned to love the journey, the whole process of becoming
something more than I was a year ago, and much more than I was when I started.
And if publication is what God has planned for me, then striving for it is my
part of the deal. Until such time as He removes the desire from my heart and
the ability to write from my soul, I am partnered with Him on a task He
prepared for me, and not one step of the journey is wasted.
Diana Sharples holds a degree in art from the Atlanta
College of Art, and has produced award-winning illustrations. As a
writer, she has penned many novels, currently focusing on contemporary
young adult fiction. Her debut novel, Running Lean, was published in 2013 by Zondervan/Blink, a division of Harper Collins. Two more novels are slated for 2018, the sequel to Running Lean, tentatively titled Running Strong, and the first novel in a new YA series with mystery elements, tentatively titled Finding Hero.
Diana is a wife and mom, a follower of Jesus Christ, and an avid motorcycle rider. To find out more about Diana, visit her website at http://www.dianasharples.com/.
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