Write from the Deep

Recentering your writer’s heart is not just a privilege, but a necessity! In our busy lives, it’s easy to get off kilter. We each need to take a moment and examine our focus, to ensure it’s on the only one deserving of our trust: Almighty God. And Psalm 40 is here to help you do exactly that!

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Can you all believe that it’s already the second half of 2024? I don’t know about you guys, but it feels to me like this year is rushing by. If you’re considering a midyear or third quarter review, or you’re taking stock of the things you’ve accomplished, or haven’t yet accomplished, or you’re feeling stuck, or frustrated, or you just want to make sure you’re on the right path, have we got some encouragement for you!

It’s a chance to recenter our hearts and thoughts, and a chance to check our behavior. It’s all conveniently found in Psalm 40. I encourage writers to consider memorizing this psalm—at the least beginning of it—in order to help you dwell on it. Then you can meditate on it even if you don’t have your Bible open or with you. It’s full of life lessons for writers.

WAIT PATIENTLY

“I waited patiently for the Lord…” Psalm 40:1a (CSB)

I love how this Psalm opens. If you remember nothing else, or read no farther in Psalm 40, this alone is still so powerful in the application to our lives as Christians and writers. “I waited patiently.” If only we could look back on our writing career and on our life and say we did that—we waited patiently.

But we didn’t wait for just anything, we waited for the Lord. God is the one who is in charge of the universe, in charge of our lives, and in charge of our careers. He opens doors, he closes doors, and he leads us in his timing. God will act on our behalf. No matter what our situation is right now, we’re not forgotten, we’re not an afterthought. We just need to wait patiently, because here’s what the rest of verse 1 says:

“…and he turned to me and heard my cry for help.”

God sees and God hears. He’s looking at you even now. Turned to you. Some translations say “inclined” to you. Your cries for help don’t go unheeded. Whatever you’re facing right now, it’s not unknown to God. But we do have to trust in God’s timing and his sovereign plan. Our job is to ask for help and then wait patiently.

Resist the temptation to FRET

Now, we all know this isn’t as easy as it sounds. While we’re trying to wait patiently and trust that God sees, hears, and has a plan, we’re going to be tempted, of course, to fret. To wonder and worry and think about all the things that could go wrong, or all the ways we think God is failing. And that’s exactly what we have to resist.

Think of this midyear recentering as giving you something positive to do: wait patiently for the Lord, and something negative to resist: fretting and worrying.

When we did our series on being ready for attacks, we talked about knowing our vulnerabilities. This is the same idea. If we’re supposed to wait patiently, we know we’re probably going to be vulnerable to attacks of fret and fear.

God ACTS TO HELP US

Let’s face it, sometimes our patience is needed through some very difficult situations. Here’s how the next verse in Psalm 40 begins:

“He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay…” Psalm 40:2a (CSB)

A desolate pit? Other translations say things like horrible pit, slimy pit, pit of destruction. Now, we know the Christian publishing industry can be difficult, but a pit of death? It can feel that way. For example, what if you feel your career is dying?

Have you ever felt like the situation you’re facing is hopeless? It might be illness, or a huge publishing nightmare, or a problem you can’t see your way out of. I have great news: God specializes in impossible things.

We might feel like we’re drowning in trials, and it’s okay to acknowledge that life is hard. But don’t forget to catch the first four words of the verse: “He brought me up.” Up from where? From the pit. He always does. You know why? The pit is no match for God’s almighty power.

But God doesn’t just lift us up, he does more. Listen to the whole verse now:

“He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure.” Psalm 40:2 (CSB)

God acts to help us by lifting us up, and then he sets us in a place of safety and security. We have a God who IS a rock, a fortress. When we walk on the sure foundation of God’s truth, we are secure.

Resist the temptation to FORce YOUR OWN WAY OUT

Even while we know that God is the one who lifts us up and puts us on a secure path, we face the temptation to short circuit waiting by scrambling to find our own way out, to stubbornly force our way onto some path we think will get us out of whatever pit we’re in, whether it’s the path God has for us or not.

Of course we’re not saying we should never try to help ourselves, only that we should never move ahead of God’s leading in doing so. God has the plan. We need to follow it and resist the temptation to claw our own way out, because our own plan is not placing our feet on the Rock.

God CHANGES OUR PERSPECTIVE

Have you ever wondered why life seems to work this way? Why we face trials and struggles and have to wait on God to help us? We could maybe blame it on Adam and Eve, who thought they’d forge their own path to wisdom and ate the fruit God had forbidden them. That certainly highlights our problem with perspective: We tend to think we know best, and that the one who created us doesn’t.

But when we wait patiently for the Lord, and he brings us up from the pit, and he sets us on a secure path, guess what happens next? He changes our perspective to one that reflects the truth of all reality. Here’s how the next verse in Psalm 40 begins:

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” Psalm 40:3a (CSB)

First notice that it’s God who puts the song in our mouths, a song of praise to him. He gives us the right perspective on not just our trials, our writing, and our life, but also on humanity’s place in creation. Big news: We are not God. He is. And he is to be praised. He alone deserves praise for who he is and what he does. In God’s plan, God gets the glory, not us.

Second, when we’re praising God, we’re focusing on him. Our focus has moved off of our pain and difficulty. We have something wonderful to sing about—he’s lifted us up from the pit. And we’re left with gratitude and love for the God who saves us.

Resist the temptation to fall back into your old way of thinking

Ah, if only that would last! But as humans, we easily slip back into our old ways of thinking. Like the hymn writer of Come Thou Fount says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it…” We need to resist the temptation to hang on to, or drift back into our old patterns of self-sufficiency. That’s hard because it’s ingrained in our culture, this notion that humanity is the savior of itself. That’s a lie. We’re not our savior, God is. We cannot praise God when we’re busy praising ourselves.

OUR SITUATION RESULTS IN A WITNESS TO OTHERS

There is an exciting thing about us waiting patiently, and God hearing, acting, and changing our perspective, resulting in us praising him. It’s told in the rest of verse 3:

“Many will see and fear, and they will trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3b (CSB)

Our whole experience becomes a witness that can lead others to know and trust in God.

Our trials are never wasted. First, they change us, but also they are a light shining in the darkness for others to see. That’s astounding. We get to participate in a show of God’s glory, in bringing hope to this weary world.

resist the temptation to hide

But as we’ve acknowledged, sometimes the struggles we face are so awful, or it produces such shame that we’d rather no one knew. But this is the very thing we need to resist. We must resist the temptation to hide the reality of our lives.

TRUSTING GOD RESULTS IN HAPPINESS

We need to be transparent so God can show others how he is acting in our lives. Whatever pit we fell into, or whatever ordeal we’ve gone through, that’s all part of who we’ve become and who we’re continuing to become. It’s part of the tapestry that God is weaving of our lives. We need to trust him with that.

Conveniently, Psalm 40 goes on to tell us what the benefit of trusting God is. Here’s verse 4:

“How happy is anyone who has put his trust in the Lord…” Psalm 40:4a (CSB)

Some translations use the word happy, some use the word blessed. But the idea is this: putting our trust in God means we’re putting ourselves in the care of our almighty, sovereign God, the God who hears us, turns to us, lifts us up from the pit, and changes our perspective. Under God’s protection we can rest and find peace. That’s where we find our state of blessedness, of happiness, even in the midst of difficulties.

Resist the temptation to turn to self or humanity as a source of salvation

Yes, there is still a caution for us, a temptation to resist. Putting our trust in the Lord means we don’t turn to human wisdom, or self sufficiency for rescue. That’s exactly what the rest of verse 4 says:

“How happy is anyone who has put his trust in the Lord and has not turned to the proud or to those who run after lies!” Psalm 40:4

This can be difficult when our culture is screaming at us to do it all our way, to be “free” of any outside constraint, and trust in ourselves. Or to trust in the current person trying to sell us happiness. We need to resist that if we’re truly going to trust in the Lord.

REMEMBER THE WORKS OF THE LORD

Is God deserving of that trust? Why? Check out verse 5 of Psalm 40:

“Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5 (NIV)

The God who deserves our trust is the God who’s done wonder upon wonder not just throughout the course of history, but also in a deeply personal way in our own lives.

We are not walking through life facing random events. God is sovereign, and he makes good plans for his people. He’s been doing this since before time began. Our job is to remember this. Remember the works of the Lord recorded in the Bible, but also to remember the works of the Lord in our own lives. To record them, to meditate on them. To sing about them, tell about them, and write stories about them. Acknowledge that God’s works are indeed too many to declare.

Think about how much God has done for us just today. Our hearts are beating by God’s grace, we’re breathing, oxygen is going to our brains and everywhere else in our bodies. We’re wearing clothes that God provided. Eating food that he gave us. In a shelter he provided. We can hear, see, feel, and think.

Take a few seconds to consider how you got where you’ve gotten to so far on your writing journey. Consider the hurdles you’ve faced, the knowledge you’ve gained, the experiences you’ve had, both good and bad. How about your journey just to discover your desire to write in the first place, or to hear God telling you to write? What about all the things he planned that led you to that point? If you’re like me, you might’ve had a twenty some-odd year journey to that discovery.

Resist the temptation to discount God’s works or his sovereign control

Many are the wonders God has done. But sometimes we forget. Sometimes our memory is just too short. Or perhaps worse, we discount the things God has done.

We’re tempted to think that all those marvels are in the past, and we don’t trust that God has anything else planned. But we have to resist that temptation, because of course he has more plans. He’s God. He has a sovereign plan for everything. You’re not a forgotten secondary character in some other person’s story. God has an arc just for you, and he IS leading you through your own story.

No one can come in and take it over. No one can sabotage or revise God’s plans. He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t need an editor. Remember that the verse says, “None can compare with God.” That means he’s the best planner, and the best story-maker.

So as we head into the remainder of this year, stop and take some time to do a heart check. To recenter your thoughts and hopes on God’s sovereign plans for you and your writing journey. Speak, write, remember, and praise God for the deeds he has already done in your life, and wait expectantly for the amazing deeds he has planned for your future.

Trust us on this. Not just for the rest of this year, but for the rest of your life, you can trust God with every single thing that you face. In your life, and in your career, he’s got you in his hands.

Writers, let Psalm 40 help you recenter your heart on Almighty God. #amwriting #ChristianWriter
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Erin will be at the Florida Christian Writers Conference, in Leesburg, FL, October 16-20, 2024.

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A big thank you to our August sponsor of the month, Tammy Partlow! She’s a speaker at women’s retreats, and her debut novel Blood Beneath the Pines, a suspense set in the deep South, is now available. She’s hard at work on the next book in the series!

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The post 219 – Recentering Your Writer’s Heart appeared first on Write from the Deep.