Write so Heaven will be Different

By Patty Hall

I hit a hiccup in my writing journey recently. For the first time in over twenty years, I had no desire to write, no new ideas to work on, no bits and pieces of scenes playing out in my head. My family and friends blamed it on my aggressive writing schedule and a recent bout of flu that had left me sick for almost two months.

But I’m not that easy on myself. There had not been a day in the last twenty years that I haven’t woken up with this overwhelming urge to write something. So what was wrong with me now? Was God trying to tell me my writing ministry was over?

Whenever I have doubts about my writing, I pick up two books of my favorites when I struggle with my writing—the Bible and Marlene Bagnull’s Bible study for writers, Write His Answer. But this time, after breezing through the first few chapters, I still was no closer to an answer than I was before.

Then I came to the chapter called Learning to Wait. While reading through it, I came across a challenge from Lee Roddy that cut me to the quick—Write so heaven will be different. Those words haunted me even after I put the book away. Wasn’t that what I was doing? Or had I pushed God aside in my effort to make the next deadline or work on a new proposal? Was I truly writing so that people would want to know the Lord?

I thought about what my writing was like early in my ministry. Even if I only got to sit down at my computer for a couple of hours, I rose refreshed and at peace, as if I’d been in a private conversation between me and the Lord. It was a time when I stood in awe as God used an inferior vessel like me to write extraordinary things!

Now, my writing has become a job with meeting deadlines, the endless marketing, and the business of publishing. A delicate balance was needed with God always the focus of every word I put to paper.

No wonder I had no desire to write. When I realized my mistake, I asked God for forgiveness and put Him at the center of my writing where He belonged. I spent time in prayer and reading my Bible.

And I’m itching to write again!

Are you struggling to write? Are you ‘writing so that heaven will be different?’ Make God the focal point of your writing today and every day!

MEET PATTY HALL

A multi-published author with Love Inspired Historical and Barbour, Patty lives in North Georgia with her husband of 35 years, Danny; two gorgeous daughters, her son-in-love and a grandboy who has her wrapped around his tiny finger. When she’s not writing on her back porch, she’s spending time with her family or working in her garden.