The Writer’s Furnace

 

By D.T. Powell

 

All writers face external challenges. Making time to write, having the resources to pursue publication, finding needed information, breaking into a saturated market—we face all this and more.

External factors aren’t the only ones pressuring authors to quit. For some, the most potent sources of discouragement are internal. Some face an extraordinarily loud inner critic; others feel perpetually ill-suited to address the topics they’re passionate about.

There is no end to the obstacles hindering those of us in the writing world.

This is where Christian writers have an advantage. When we face impossible stretches on our writing journey—because we will go through rough times—we don’t do it alone. On us is the strong hand of our Creator, who formed us just as He wanted us to be. He uses each trial to teach us something about Him, and often about ourselves.

I’ve gotten to see this personally during multiple writing projects. When I don’t have words, God brings the ones I need. When I don’t have the energy to write, God either gives me restoring rest or He provides strength to go on, even though I have no power to continue on my own. And each time God does this, I get to see His faithfulness to me and His presence in every step of the writing process.

Christian writers face the temptation to focus on our human reasoning and resources to finish the stories we begin. It’s natural to lean toward self-reliance, but when we do that, we ignore the most potent source of wisdom, power, and understanding.

In Daniel 3:16 & 17 (KJV), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego address Nebuchadnezzar, who has charged them to bow to a golden image of himself, or he will have them cast into a “burning fiery furnace.” They tell the king, “We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.”

These three young men could have given in to the king and saved themselves by doing something that, to an average human who has no relationship with God, seems perfectly reasonable—if not logical. But instead of leaning on their own understanding, they remained faithful to God.

They were thrown into the fire, just as the king promised. But then Nebuchadnezzar looked into the flames, and said, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25 KJV) Two verses later, we read, “And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.”

Not only was the Son of God right beside these men during the worst recorded trial of their lives, but He ensured that when they came out of the furnace, they didn’t even smell of smoke. But I guarantee you those three men knew acutely just how near God had been as they walked through those flames. And that isn’t something easily forgotten.

No matter what we as Christian writers face—whether it’s increasing publishing costs, an inner critic that won’t quit, friends who don’t support our work, or anything else that threatens to destroy us—God is there. As with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, He may not pull us out of the fire immediately. He may choose to make Himself irrevocably known as He stands shoulder-to-shoulder with us during each nerve-scorching second in the furnace. Whatever He decides, He will never leave us or abandon us to the consuming flames of trouble and fear. In Him, we have hope and peace, and as we endure trials, we can rest in the truth that He is with us. In Him, every story—every word in every sentence—can be an exercise of joyful faith, even if it means walking through fire to write it.

Photo by Adhirej J R Nair on Unsplash

D. T. Powell has loved stories since before she can remember, and it was one of those stories that God used to change her life and prompt her to start writing. In addition to writing original contemporary and speculative fiction, as well as book reviews for a magazine, she has actively contributed to the fanfiction community since 2013. Her original work has been published by Writers Digest, Clean Fiction Magazine, Twenty Hills Publishing, The Order of the Pen Press, Worldsmyths, and Cadence Writing. She enjoys reading, playing pickleball, and the occasional video game. You can find her online as dtill359. Her favorite verse is Psalm 126:5, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”