And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation (Daniel 4:34, NKJV).
I think burnout is something we all have to be careful of, especially if our offices are in our homes, and we seldom get away from them. If I'm home, I'm aware of all the paperwork, household chores, etc. that are not getting done. Often it is hard to concentrate on my writing.
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them;
for the Lordyour God, He is the One who goes with you.
He will not leave you nor forsake you”Deuteronomy 31:6, NKJV).
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lordrequire of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:8, NKJV)
I’ve always loved this verse, but lately it’s been rolling around in my heart and mind a lot, stirring up thoughts and feelings I hadn’t considered before.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14, NKJV).
I think the reason writers are often given conflicting advice is that writing is not an exact science. In math, 2 + 2 always equals 4 (how boring). I guess that’s one reason I love the Christian writing profession. There is so much room for creativity and literary license. Thus, there may be several ways of doing things, and none are necessarily incorrect.
But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions…what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me (2 Timothy 3:10-11, NKJV).
Encouragement is so important in Christian writing, and I love to encourage budding authors. When I meet with writers during 15-minute appointments at conferences, I try to find something encouraging to say about their writing or at least their concept. When I edit a manuscript that was sent to me, I always write a note or letter to accompany it. My first sentence always starts on a positive note, no matter how bad the manuscript is.
Your own eyes have seen all the great work of the LORD
which He did (Deuteronomy 11:7, NASB).
I was 26 years old before I came to know the Lord personally. Prior to that I knew and, to some extent, believed the basic tenets of Christianity, including that Jesus “died for the sins of the world.” Unfortunately that didn’t impact me until I understood that He died for ME, for MY sins. That changed everything.