Two months ago, I spoke at the One Year Adventure Novel Conference and one point I covered in one of my talks was “How do you know if writing is God’s plan for your life?” I’ve just returned from the Realm Makers Conference where I met with a lot of authors questioning what the “future of writing” held for them. During such a crossroads-time of life, this question about “God’s plan” can paralyze us.
Really, it can paralyze us in any stage of life. It can be scary to move forward with something when you haven’t heard a single booming sentence from God saying, “Go, do this thing called writing.”
I never heard a booming voice telling me to be a writer, but I felt direction in my soul from a young age. (You can read my personal writing story part 1, part 2, and part 3.) That direction came from constant prayer and studying God’s word. The Holy Spirit. So here’s my stance on this whole “will of God” thing. If He had designed life in a way where we weren’t allowed to move without His booming voice of instruction, then we’d have no passions. We’d be little drones. (Tweet this)
But that’s not how He made us. He created us with desires.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. [Ps. 37:4-5]
This verse is quoted a lot. But I want to point something out that was a new discovery for me. When you look at the Hebrew phrase He will give, it has several meanings. One meaning is “to be made.” Read it like this:
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will make or create the desires of your heart.
See? He created the desire to write and put it in your heart. It was intentional. Still not sure what I’m getting at? Well then, let me make it a little clearer:
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. [Ps 139: 13-14]
The original Hebrew word for “inward parts” is kilya and it’s both figurative and literal. it doesn’t mean only our physical bodies (brains, organs, etc.), but also our emotions and affections . . . our mind. It also means reins, like horse reins–the thing that steers us.
God already formed your mind. He formed your inclination toward writing, toward story, toward adventure. But the key is to use that inclination, those passions while seeking Him. And that’s when He’ll direct you. That’s the whole point of this existence thing. That’s His purpose for all of us: Seek Him while using the passions He gave us.
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind. [Isaiah 42:6-7]
That’s your calling, my writerly friend. God called you. He’s going to guide you and use you as a light. He’s given you a passion for story. Use that for Him, whether it means writing a single short story or twenty full-length novels. (Tweet this) Whether that means getting a degree in writing, skipping the “degree thing” altogether, or getting a degree in something else. You’re allowed to have more than one passion.
The point is . . . commit it to Him.
Run after that passion and use it until God says stop. God is holding your hand and He’ll tug you onto the right path if you start to stray.
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will. [Prov. 21:1]
Let’s keep our hearts (and feet!) moving as stream of water. God will redirect a river–He’ll correct you and keep you on the right path as long as you’re seeking Him. But it’s hard to redirect a puddle, peeps. (Tweet this.)
Don’t be a puddle. Be His light and His river. Take His stories all the way–to each reader waiting for it.
Your turn! What passions/desires are in your heart?
What are thoughts about “God’s plan” for your life?
Oh wow. This is a beautiful post, Nadine. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
My pleasure, my dear. <3 This is my heart.
I loved this so much, Nadine! Thank you! I wondered for years what God’s plan for my life was — and I still haven’t totally “figured it all out.” But what I have found, is that in seeking Him, and pursuing the things that I love–those things that He’s placed the desire for inside of me–I feel fulfilled. Sometimes God’s voice is more of a whisper than a neon-flashing-blowhorn-thing. XD But that’s why we have faith. 😉
Awesome post!
^This!! “In seeking Him, and pursuing the things that I love–those things that He’s placed the desire for inside of me–I feel fulfilled.” <3 <3 Yes, yes, yes. He loves leading us through our passions.
This was such a beautiful post, Nadine! Thank you for sharing :).
It was my blessing to share!
I loved this so much!
Aww I’m so glad!
Wise words. I wish someone had shared this insight when I was your age. Thankfully, the Lord has continued to spur me forward in my writing even when I doubted whether I was meant to be a writer. And you’re right, Nadine, seeking the Lord should be our number one passion.
I’m so glad you continued to seek Him and write even when you didn’t have such affirmation. <3 What a testament to His faithfulness!
This post was literally an answer to my prayers! I never really looked at this in this perspective. I have always expected a booming voice, you know? But I have been praying for opportunities or events to lead me on the right track toward His will. I will officially call this an opportunity -no matter how weird that sounds. The day after I prayed that, I was asked to play some music for worship. That made me uber excited because music is like my ultimate passion. And lately I have been wanting to pour out my heart into a dystopian novel I am writing. And then this post? God works in truly amazing ways!
What a blessing to hear, Isabella! <3 Our God is truly amazing! May your dystopian novel drown beneath inspiration and His guidance & passion!
Great post! I’ll probably come back to it often for encouragement 🙂
Aww, I hope you do. Thank you, Eliza!
Thanks for sharing Nadine.
But of course! 🙂
Really encouraging post – thank you! 🙂
Oh, I’m so glad! <3
This is something I struggled a lot with last year. I have known for many years that I’ve wanted to be a teacher but I also knew that my passion for writing was stronger. I didn’t want to let go of either and after lots of prayer and deliberation I realised I could have both. This is an excellent post. 😀
“…after lots of prayer and deliberation I realised I could have both.” YES!!! This!
“God already formed your mind. He formed your inclination toward writing, toward story, toward adventure. But the key is to use that inclination, those passions while seeking Him. And that’s when He’ll direct you.”
This was so encouraging…the whole blog.
Thank you for sharing it. Sometimes it’s difficult to find such words when people question my calling. I never heard God’s voice, but He did form my mind… 🙂 I don’t know how long this writing path will go, but while I’m on it, I know He brought me here.
Beautiful. I greatly admire your passion for writing and your heart for him, friend.
Great post. So many struggle with finding or capturing their passion.
They are not alone! May this post enlighten them all. 🙂
Nadine I am not even sure if this is still a good post but I am writing in hopes that it is. I saw the last date being in 2016. I believe it is a God send even if you are not still responding to it. I began a 21 day prayer and fasting yesterday (Aug 6,2017) and while sitting planning my morning time to spend with God I google the question of knowing if writing is Gods plan for because I planned on that bring one of my prayer focuses. This is s passion of mine and has been for a long time. I start and stop and begin being confused even with the material I want to use right st my fingertips. Just about to go to bed and after clicking the search button your post was the second one on the page. I thought oh my Lord is this my answer!! ?. This is an awesome post an out of all the searching feeling of confusion etc I believe in my heart you thoroughly answered something that has plagued me for a while now. Thank you so much for this and being kind enough to share with us. I pray Gods continued blessings on you and your ministry.
By the way my name is Debbie.
Hi Debbie!!
Oh I’m so glad to hear that this post was able to reach you and encourage you in God’s perfect timing!! What an answer to prayer and testament to His faithfulness.
Thank you for your prayers, and know that I’m praying for you with your writing. <3
-Nadine