Give Me Grace : Encouragement For Your Writing Soul

I woke up on the couch the other morning. I’ve stayed up late reading the past few nights and on this one my sweet family had covered me with a sleeping bag and turned out the lights.  It was perhaps the coldest day of the year in New York and the heater in our living room wasn’t working. I’d fallen asleep lost in the words of Madeline L’Engle, warmed by the truth she shared from this quote by Anton Chekhov.

“You must once and for all give up being worried about success and failures. Don’t let that concern you. It’s your duty to go on working steadily day by day, quite quietly, to be prepared for mistakes,which are inevitable, and for failures.”

My writing soul needs to hear that.

And the timely messages from two friends on voxer “Keep writing”. “Don’t back away from it.”

I’d wanted to write but doubt does a number on me sometimes. I get quiet. Every word gets shut up behind an impenetrable shell of steel. Vaulted.

September McCarthy announced some of the session leaders for the next Raising Generations Today conference this week. I’m one of them. Seeing my face attached to a lineup of so many godly women opened the door for comparison and doubt. I struggled with feeling flawed and unworthy – with wondering if I’d meet expectations.

My writing soul got quiet. My soul gets quiet because I know the weight of words. I know how words can breathe life into a woman crushed by loss, grief….doubt. I know words have the power to reignite dreams. I know words can lead a soul to the very throne of God. My enemy knows that too.

I marinated in this space…feeling defeated. But I shouldn’t. And you shouldn’t either. Maybe that pause isn’t all bad. Behind every holy hard word is a story.  And your unique experience makes you the only one to tell it.  It’s His job to do the work of releasing it. He’ll do that through you.  He’ll forge a path. You…do the work of being committed through quiet preparation – through prayer.

This year, as you make plans to accept invitations, ask about opportunities…put yourself out there in ways that call for increased faith – let this be encouragement for your writing soul.

The stilling of your soul is a time to get closer to God. He doesn’t give us a spirit of fear. And those feelings are all about the “no you can’t, you’ll fail. You…should be afraid.” And That’s not God. Mark the moment of silence as the beginning of a journey. God promises dreams and witty inventions. Open yourself to His creative ability. Build yourself up in His righteousness and qualifications only He can give. It’s more important than ever to discern His voice and the only way to do that is to get quiet so you can hear.

“I will climb up into my watchtower…” – Habakkuk 2:1 

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16 

Jesus made it a habit to steal away with His father and the Prophet Habakkuk used wisdom when he made it his business to get alone with God.  They didn’t resist but rather, invited this time of solitude.

This time around I won’t resist the setting apart for a stretch of silence. I’ll use the time to hear. To remember – to prepare for the birthing of something beautiful.

Enough talk for the night.
He is laboring in me;
I need to be silent
for a while,
worlds are forming
in my heart.
Meister Eckhart

Let your handmaiden find grace in your sight…#GiveMeGrace

♥

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Lisha Epperson