Hidden Blessings of Writing

By Sarah Sundin

Trying to get published can be painful and frustrating and disheartening. Can I hear an amen? It took ten years from when I began writing for publication until my first novel hit the shelves. I lost track of how many rejection letters I received during a time when historical fiction wasn’t selling—especially historical fiction set during World War II!

A few weeks ago, I found my teaching notes from a Bible study in late 2007, toward the end of my rejection-letter years—although I didn’t know that at the time. As I wrote, “All doors are sealed shut.” I was teaching about the importance of obedience, of stepping out in faith, and of following God’s will.

I had been praying, “Lord, I want to do your will. If you want me to keep writing, let me know. And if you want me to stop, please take away my desire to write, because I really like to write.”

Yes, I really liked to write. I scribbled down a list of all the reasons I liked writing—and all the lovely things that had happened in my life because I’d obeyed the Lord when he told me to write. Here’s a part of my list:

• Fun! I enjoy writing and find it inherently rewarding.
• Sense of accomplishment of having completed an actual novel.
• I’ve met fascinating friends in the writing world I never would have met.
• I’ve met so many of my favorite authors in
• I’ve discovered a love of history and research.
• I’ve grown in prayer and Bible study—because I can’t do this on my own power.
• Spiritual growth in so many areas—obedience, pride, control, resting in God’s sovereignty, waiting, overcoming shame, forgiveness…
• Teaching—as a direct result of stepping out in faith to write, I’ve been able to step out in faith when called to teach, both in Sunday school and women’s Bible studies. I’ve discovered my spiritual gift is teaching, and I love using it.
• Discovering the joy of watching God work through my feeble acts of ministry.
• This introvert has grown in confidence, not in myself but in the Lord.

This list was personal. Yours would be different.

But I strongly remember giving this talk and writing these things on the whiteboard, and the overwhelming sense of joyful gratitude that filled me.

I knew I might not ever be published. And I was fine with that. Not every day, mind you, but overall. I had already learned the importance of obedience and following God’s will—even if the desired results never happened.

But that day, the Lord gave me a gift. He showed me all the work he’d been quietly doing inside me because of writing. He showed me all the blessings. And I realized it was more than worth it.

Today, I often tell people I wouldn’t trade my rejection-letter years for anything. During those years, I grew as a writer, grew in knowledge of the publishing industry, and grew personally so I could handle the unique pressures of being a published author. And even in the pain of longing, blessings were there, sometimes hidden.

Published or not, what blessings have you seen from writing?

Sarah Sundin is an ECPA-bestselling author of World War II novels, including Until Leaves Fall in Paris. Her novel The Sky Above Us received the 2020 Carol Award, and When Twilight Breaks was a Christy Award finalist. A mother of three adult children, Sarah lives in California. www.sarahsundin.com.