Write His Answer

Guest post used with permission from Karen Ball and Erin Taylor Young’s website, www.writefromthedeep.com.

Karen will keynote at the February 9-10 Write to Impact Lives Conference in Lansdale, PA. Her topic:

Write From The Deep
God’s call to us is clear: come away with Him, let His words sink deep into us first, then take His truths to the world. This session, based on Ezekiel 2:1-3:22, will challenge writers to go deep with God in their call and their craft, for it is in the Deep that writers find refreshment, renewal, and restored passion.

Erin will present a continuing session at the May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference on “Write From The Deep.” She says,

“In these interactive sessions, writers will be challenged to go deep with God in their call and their craft. We’ll explore what it means when God calls us to the deep, and we’ll see how God uses the deep to help us find our story, hone our message, and understand our audience. Finally, we’ll talk about how to equip ourselves to face down obstacles—external and internal.”

To view a list of the 58 agents, editors, and authors on faculty at the Colorado conference, click here.

And now, here is an excerpt from Karen and Erin’s podcast. I urge you to subscribe.

Did God Really Ask You to Write?

Have you ever sat back and wondered if you heard wrong about being a writer? If God really did give you the task to write, then why is it all so…difficult? Frustrating? Disappointing? And why isn’t He confirming that He gave you this task?

Most of us are doing this task of writing because we believe God has given it to us. So why do so many writers struggle with doubt? Why do we wonder if we really did hear God correctly? Or struggle to know what He’s leading us to do right now?

The good news is that you’re not alone. It’s not uncommon for writers to wonder if maybe they heard God wrong. Or to want, down the road, some sense of confirmation that God really said what they thought He did. . . .

This issue really isn’t about hearing God at all. It’s about knowing Him. As well as—or even better than—you know your closest friends and family. Think about it, when your best friend calls you on the phone, do you recognize his or her voice? Of course, because you know that person so well. You know the inflections in his words, the sound of her laughter and weeping. You know her as well as you know yourself. That’s how well you need to know God.

You have within you the very spirit of the living, Almighty God. If you don’t know Him, or His spirit, as well as you do your friends and family, you need to focus on getting to the point where you, the sheep, are so well acquainted with the Shepherd’s voice that your response to it is immediate. That the sense you have when He speaks is one of trust and obedience. And you don’t doubt that you heard it, because you know it too well to do so.

The way to hear God, to know it’s His voice speaking to you, is simply to take the time to build relationship with Him.

Doubt isn’t an issue of not hearing, it’s an issue of not knowing and, as a result, not trusting.

If you don’t really KNOW Him, then of course you’ll start to doubt that He put you on this path when it doesn’t go the way you think it should. The key is knowing, deep in the fabric of your soul, that how the journey goes isn’t a validation—or invalidation—of God’s call.

We’re called to follow a suffering Savior, so you can be sure there will be difficulties and suffering. But we endure because He’s there with us. And we don’t take a detour unless it’s clear, deep in our soul, that He is the one telling us to do so.

Click here to read on for solutions to doubt and much more.