By Shirley Gould
This year is finally coming to a close. Can you say Praise the Lord? With Christmas behind us and a new year around the corner, it is a good time to reassess where we’ve been and make goals for the future. 2020 has numbed us into a stagnant state with its quarantines, mask-wearing, and social distancing. As we prepare to step into a new year, we as Christian authors must prepare ourselves emotionally, mentally, and spiritually for a successful 2021.
*Emotionally by asking the Lord for supernatural peace as we navigate our new normal.
*Mentally by choosing specific promises to stand upon as we move forward.
*Spiritually by spending time in prayer and Bible reading. Our relationship with the Lord must be strong in these perilous times.
Our lives have been altered in shocking ways. Losing loved ones to the virus has changed us forever. Loss of jobs and income has led to desperation. Remote learning and working from home isn’t just for writers anymore. Virtual church services and zoom meetings have become our norm. This coronavirus has disrupted each of our lives. Yes, we have experienced some dark days with extreme challenges.
When my granddaughter, Madi was two and a half years old, she took her princess flashlight out of her drawer in my husband’s office and asked him to turn the light off. When he did, she turned her flashlight on and said, “Look, it turns off the dark.” That’s what we have to do We must turn off the dark with our writing because the darker the dark, the brighter the light shines. What an opportune time to be a Christian author.
In 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath is found. In Verse 29 David says,
“Is there not a cause?”
We need to ask ourselves that question because there is a cause—people need Jesus. Through our prose, we can speak His truths to those who read our novels, devotions, and short stories. It is a wonderful opportunity to use our words to teach the truths of the gospel, to minister to hurting people.
Some authors have excelled and achieved amazing word counts during this year while others have found it challenging to be creative in times of extreme stress. Whatever your situation, my prayer is that you can regroup and begin the new year with a renewed passion to flood the market with completed works.
As you make your New Year’s Resolutions, prayerfully set new goals and allow the Lord to stir your creativity igniting your desire to write for Him. We must remind ourselves the God we serve is still on the throne and He is still in control.
We do what we do because…there is a cause. It’s reaching the lost.
Blessings on your new year.
Shirley Gould is an inspirational speaker, an African missionary, and an author. She’s the founder of Kenya’s Kids Home for Street Children, an orphanage in Kenya. Shirley has written non-fiction for thirty years and is presently writing Christian Fiction novels. She lives in the Nashville, Tennessee area.