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"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord."
(Colossians 3:23)
This week I'm sharing some lessons I've learned from my journey as an author. Despite believing God called me to write, thankfully He gave me the wisdom to know that this call did not come with an automatic promise of worldly success. He didn't say, "write, and I will make you an instant bestseller." He didn't say, "write, and you will get movie adaptations of all your books." He just told me to do it.
There's a theory that it takes 10,000 hours of practicing a skill to become a master at it. And statistics say that most authors write several books over many years before they get what is known as a traditional publishing deal. This is where you first find a literary agent to represent you, and they send your books to publishers. Very few authors succeed with the first book they ever write.
Traditional publishing was always my dream, and in my naivete (and probably my pride), I thought I would beat those odds and succeed more quickly. God had other plans! It took me five books and seven years to land my first agent, but that didn't work out. Two years and two more books later, I signed with my current agent. She spent two years sending four different books to editors, with no interest. I stopped counting after 350 rejections.
A question I faced multiple times during the journey was: will I keep doing this when it's hard? When I don't want to? When things aren't going the way I think they should? And will I continue to write with excellence? For the most part, I love the process, so even though I always wanted my books published, usually the writing was enough. But I definitely got discouraged at times. I'm sure you can relate if you've ever worked hard toward a dream and had it take much longer than you expected, or not happen at all.
Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord." This isn't a command only when things are easy or when we enjoy the work. It's a command for wherever God has placed us. Whether that's writing or any other job, God has a purpose for giving you that task. The purpose might be to make you more like Him, or it might be to use you in the lives of the people around you.
In Ephesians 3:20, Paul writes that God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." That's what He did for me. In 2020, I received two offers of publication within two weeks. Since 2022, I've had seven books published. God's plan and timing are often not what we expect, but He can make anything happen, even more than we can imagine.
In a recent sermon, Pastor Danny said something that stuck with me. Philippians 4:19 promises that "God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus." Therefore, if you don't have it, that means you don't need it, at least not right now. On the other hand, when it is God's plan, nothing can stop it. If He wanted me to be a best-seller with movies, I would be. Maybe it will happen one day, maybe not, but no matter what, I will continue to work at the task with all my heart.
If there's something you're working toward or hoping for that hasn't happened, take courage. Be faithful with what God has called you to do, keep at it, and trust the results to Him. And remember that His idea of success is not the same as the world's. Faithfulness, obedience, loving God and others, advancing His kingdom, and bringing glory to Him are far more important than worldly achievements.
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