Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Then all I can do is wait until I hear back from the next publication. Stay in my current season of life and busy myself with other activities. Rest in the fact that God is still in control and that He sees my disappointment. But society would tell me to do exactly the opposite.
And then I began to realize the truth: I wasn't trusting God's plan. I wanted to receive a book contract now. I wanted to be a successful author now. I wanted my dreams to come true now. But that clearly wasn’t God's will for me. Even though I struggled to accept His will, He graciously used my disappointment to teach me three important things about my dreams—and I'll share them with you here.
Though writer’s block can cause plenty of frustration and anxiety, that's probably not the greatest fear that writers have. I'd probably include writer's block in the list of minor fears that writers have, along with other common fears like "What if I don't win _____ writing contest?" or "What if my writing gets rejected by _____ website or _____ magazine?" The greatest fear of writers is more serious than a bad case of writer's block—our plans and our purpose are at the core of this fear.
I want to earn a degree in marketing. I want to become a published author within five years after I graduate from college. I want to write for Christian magazines or websites. I want to get married by the age of 25 and have kids by the age of 30. I want to maintain a beautiful home that’s close to my parents. I want to have three kids and maybe even a pet. I want to work from home while I take care of my husband and kids. But truth be told, my expectations are probably too high—and I blame you for that.
I feel unsure about my blogging future because I don't know if blogging will take me where I want to go. I worry that I’ll keep writing and blogging but never get a book deal or become a well-known author. I fear that all of my efforts will be wasted.
That's why Proverbs 16 is such a comfort to me. I don't have to worry about the future because God directs my steps. No matter what happens, I can trust that God will open the right doors at the right times.
I think most people feel like an unbaked bowl of cookie dough for the majority of their lives. We feel like an unbaked bowl of dough, or a blank canvas, or an unfinished math problem. And, for most of our lives, we constantly ask when the dough will be baked, the canvas will be painted, or the problem will be solved. We waste our whole lives trying to figure it out. And, as we try to figure it out, wrestling with questions and doubts and concerns, the cookies are being baked in the oven, the canvas is being painted, and the math problem is being solved—and we don’t even realize it.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 