A few weeks ago, a friend tagged me on Facebook about a writing contest for short stories with the comment that I should enter! I was so flattered and I went to the site and printed the pages with all of the details and instructions. I was at work so I put the pages into a bag that I carry when I have extra things to tote back and forth. Immediately, I started imagining what the story would be about, who would be the main character? What would the message be? A moral dilemma? A day in the life? What could I say with the 300 words allotted?
Time passed and as I was busy doing things at home and at work, I shuffled the pages time and again and kept putting them in a bag to take to work or on the weekends, a bag to take home. Each time that I moved them, I made a plan to read them fully and get a solid writing plan together. I needed to take the time to sit down and brainstorm and write. I took the pages out yesterday and got a clean sheet of paper to make some notes and had a blinking curser on a blank page in Word just waiting to run away with my anticipated story.
I read the instructions fully for the first time with special attention to finding the date by which the stories had to be submitted. I found it, it was August 1st. I had put off taking the time and attention to the details and I ended up missing out on an opportunity.
Do you ever do that?
Have you prioritized a list and placed what you really wanted to do at the end, and never gotten to it?
I feel like I do things like this all the time. If there is something work related or a task that someone else has asked me to do, I am right on it! Get it done and mark it off the list! I can’t tell you how many times I have said those words and anyone who works with me knows that this is my motto, I simply don’t like things sitting around unfinished.
I don’t like it at all when I put things like this writing contest off until it is too late. I know, and I am ashamed to admit, that this form of procrastination is fear based.
What if my work isn’t that good?
What if I allow the world to see too far into me?
What if what I say hurts someone?
What if I get laughed at?
What if I really don’t know what I’m doing?
What if more is expected and this is as good as I get?
Fear is not something that God wants us to experience. It is something that Satan uses to keep us down, to deflate our sails, to get us from our fullest potential, to stop us from our calling and/or ministry.
So why do I have a novel that is over half way written that was written almost completely in 2011 and hasn’t been touched in almost 3 years?
Simple, but not easy to say- because I am letting fear (Satan) win in this area of my life.
Writing is something that I have felt to be a part of me since I was 10 years old. If I was granted a wish of anything that I could do for a week, it would be to be in an isolated place in nature, close to water, with simple furnishings and my laptop. When there is anything else that needs to be done, it is last on the list because my creativity is stifled by the urgency of looming tasks. It is something that I need to dedicate time and prayer to.
So fear…
It’s a small enough word, but it can pack a big wallop!
What does the Bible say about it?
A search on BibleGateway for ‘fear’- hits me hard with the very first verse that it offers on the subject:
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1st John 4:18 (NIV)
This verse tells me that if I am living in fear, I am not accepting God’s gift of perfect love completely. Ouch! I need to put all of my trust in God and believe that He gave me this passion and talent for a reason and that I should confidently follow Him.
In turn- I searched the phrase, ‘fear not’ and this is the first one in the results.
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged. For I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
Isn’t it amusing that each and every issue that we have is addressed in the Bible? It is such a comfort to read words that were placed so long ago and yet still apply to our everyday lives and struggles here in 2019.
There are a couple of times in the year that encourage us to make fresh starts and new beginnings and the beginning of the school year has always been one for me.
Is there something that you have been afraid to start? Something that you have stalled out on and have let fear keep you from finishing? Have you received a calling that you don’t know how to pursue?
I am going to pray and ask God to provide me with the courage and the head space to be creative and the discipline to jump in and get the job done.
What steps will you take to start or finish an exciting venture in your life?
It would mean so much to me if you would subscribe to my blog and then leave me a comment and let me know what your next step will be.
Have a great weekend!