Several months ago, I went through a time of severe spiritual drought, brought on by the busyness of life and allowing the urgent details of everyday living to take the place of that which was truly important. I soon became aware that spiritual drought gives birth to a desert-like writing life, and I am learning that my writing life is often a mirror that reflects my spiritual walk.
One of my favorite quotes is from Beth Moore: “Clay out of the Potters hands is just dirt.”
It is true. In order to be Christian writers who glorify God, we must remain connected to our Heavenly Father. Scripture confirms this in the following verses:
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15: 4-5)
If we desire to write for God’s glory, we must make sure we are in the Potter’s hands. We have a multitude of resources available to help us become better writers: writing classes at local community colleges, books too numerous to count, magazines dedicated to the craft of writing, and online courses to help us improve our writing skills. While these things all have value, they are no substitute for our personal relationship with God. We need to nurture our time with God; seeking Him in prayer and listening to Him speak to us through His word. Cultivating a powerful spiritual life by sowing prayer and scripture reading into our daily lives will enable us to reap a harvest of writing that will glorify God.
We are often concerned about many things. We think about query letters, what to write about, proper punctuation, or what magazine to submit an article to. We wonder if we will ever write a book or get published. Yet, we often neglect the very thing that is needed for our success….an intimate relationship with God. He needs to be the foundation of each poem, article, or book that we write. As we pray and read His word, we are filling our reservoir with His presence, which will overflow into our writing and ultimately into the lives of others through the articles, books, or poems that we write.
The choice is ours. We can choose to be like dirt; easily blown about, enticed and carried away by the desires of our flesh and worldly influence, or we can be like clay that remains in the hands of the Potter; molded by His truth, enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to use the writing talent He gave us, and ultimately fashioned and molded into a vessel that will be used for the glory of our Heavenly Father.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15: 4-5)
If we desire to write for God’s glory, we must make sure we are in the Potter’s hands. We have a multitude of resources available to help us become better writers: writing classes at local community colleges, books too numerous to count, magazines dedicated to the craft of writing, and online courses to help us improve our writing skills. While these things all have value, they are no substitute for our personal relationship with God. We need to nurture our time with God; seeking Him in prayer and listening to Him speak to us through His word. Cultivating a powerful spiritual life by sowing prayer and scripture reading into our daily lives will enable us to reap a harvest of writing that will glorify God.
We are often concerned about many things. We think about query letters, what to write about, proper punctuation, or what magazine to submit an article to. We wonder if we will ever write a book or get published. Yet, we often neglect the very thing that is needed for our success….an intimate relationship with God. He needs to be the foundation of each poem, article, or book that we write. As we pray and read His word, we are filling our reservoir with His presence, which will overflow into our writing and ultimately into the lives of others through the articles, books, or poems that we write.
The choice is ours. We can choose to be like dirt; easily blown about, enticed and carried away by the desires of our flesh and worldly influence, or we can be like clay that remains in the hands of the Potter; molded by His truth, enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to use the writing talent He gave us, and ultimately fashioned and molded into a vessel that will be used for the glory of our Heavenly Father.
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