#009 - Embracing a Season of Obscurity

Today I want to talk about embracing a season of obscurity. Now let's just face it, most.

Mentors to writers and book marketing experts and all of the things will not talk to you much about this topic. You know, it's so easy to say, oh, we want to help you sell more books and get visibility and grow your platform and all the things. Right? And, and of course that's, that's what we, you know, I do wanna help you to, to accomplish, you know, in thebookmarketingshop.com and then in all of our resources in Christian Book Academy. But there's also a time and a season for embracing obscurity. What do I mean by this? Sometimes God has us in different seasons. And the beginning of 2020 was a season of obscurity for me. In fact, I really felt like God was.

Be off of all social media for a season to decline and say no to any speaking engagements, even podcast interviews. But speaking on stages, I turned down two fairly big opportunities just simply because I felt like the Lord asked me to step into a season of obscurity. And the picture he gave me was.

Most of you probably know, like the old school cameras that actually had film in them. Do you remember those? Oh my goodness, I'm dating myself. I'm sure, you know, but you know, they would have to take the film and you know, take it into a dark room to develop it. Right. And so I felt like the Lord was telling me, you know, at the beginning of 2020 that that's what he was doing in my life. He was taking me into a dark room to develop me, to heal me, to, to, to make my character stronger, to grow me, to, you know, be able to, to do things in my life that may not be possible when I'm so connected to social media and doing all the things right. And it's also a chance for really, it was a chance for really humbling myself. So, you know, it was scary. I, I, I, I operate an online business. My husband and I both, I mean, this is what we do full time. And so it was quite scary completely removing myself from social media and just all the things. I still had my assistant at the time checking in to social media for our business, but otherwise I withdrew completely. And then like I said, I also was declining any type of speaking engagements, anything that would put me front and center. And it was actually a really good season. I also was led by the Lord during that same time to see a spirit filled Christian trauma therapist. For those of you that don't know my Story. My grandma was murdered when I was 8 years old. And there, there were still, like, layers of stuff. I mean, I have went through so much healing for this. So much. You know, it's just, it feels I should be over it by now. Right. But that's not always how it works. You know, sometimes when we have trauma in our lives, there are layers. And that's what the Lord was showing me. There was a deeper layer. There was an, you know, something else that he wanted to do in my life related to this. And it really, really was beneficial for me. I noticed my anxiety decreasing as a result. I just noticed so many benefits. And my husband, C.J. can tell you, too, like, I became a more peaceful person. Like, it was just, it was so good. Like, I wasn't triggered as easily. And just a lot of really good things came out of that time of therapy. And I'm not saying that you have to go to therapy, but I, I, I'm also an advocate for it. I think it can really help. And I have went to counselors in the past. I've, I've just, you know, God has led me to do different things at different times. But, but then we all remember what happened in March 2020, right? The pandemic hit. And that meant even, like the, one of the really big speaking engagements I turned down. They didn't even end up having it that year because of the pandemic. Right. And so it was, it was kind of interesting. Cause it was like, oh, my goodness, Lord. I think, I think you knew, right?

But, but at the end of March, I really felt like the Lord wanted me to come back online and to really encourage you and others. And so I did. But it was, it was probably about a good three months of, you know, just complete obscurity. And it was really good. It was really hard, but it was really good. And I just want to tell you that there may be seasons of obscurity that, that the Lord leads you into. And it, it may be because he has other plans for you. And for me, it was like a deeper emotional healing, I think, that he had for me during that season. I didn't have any other distractions while I was going to therapy. Now, when I first felt like God was leading me into this, I didn't know I was going to go into therapy. I didn't know. You know, I didn't realize all the things, but it was good. And you know what's interesting? It is now almost the end of 2022, I still have not had any in person speaking engagements since 2019. And I. I've had a few offers, but they just weren't the right fit. It wasn't the right timing, or I had something else going on. But it's okay. Like, I just. I feel really good about where I'm at right now. And the Lord will open those doors if and when that is supposed to happen again. You know, There was a time and a season where I was really striving to get paid. Speaking engagements, keynote speaking opportunities, you know, all the things. And it seemed like the harder I tried, the less doors opened, you know? And I think back to when I was in college and there was a season I was really striving to find the right guy. Right? There's like a feeling in college sometimes, you know, some people came to our Christian college, Anderson University, especially women, and they would say they were there to get their Mrs. Degree, you know, to get married. And I wasn't necessarily that type of person. But there was a sense, like, when I started to get near the end of my sophomore year and I'm coming into my junior year, I'm like, okay, like, this is. I'm not going to be here much longer. And I really tried to make something happen in my own strength. And then when I finally just surrendered it to the Lord and I said, you know what, Lord, in your timing, I'm just going to surrender that to you when you know it. It was just a few weeks later that CJ asked me out on our first date. And so it's not always going to happen like that. Your season of obscurity may look different than mine. You know, your time of, like, surrender from the striving. It may result in different. In a different outcome. But I just want to say sometimes the Lord has something for you in a season of obscurity, and be willing to embrace that. I also want to say sometimes the Lord wants to challenge us to step into a season of acceleration. And I will talk about that in our next episode. But don't just accept a season of obscurity, because that feels comfortable to you. I encourage you to only embrace it when that's what God has for you. And so there's a difference. Sometimes fear holds us back, and then we just accept a season of obscurity because of fear. No, I'm not talking about that, my friends. I'm talking about those times that God has this season of obscurity planned for you. And to be willing to embrace it, to be willing to walk into it, even if everything about it goes against what the world says to do. You know, my season of obscurity, when I completely removed myself from social media, said no to all sorts of speaking engagements in person and online. It doesn't make sense for our business. It honestly didn't. But it was so fruitful. So let me just pray for you. Lord, we just pray for every person listening right now. And if they're already in a season of obscurity, I pray you would show them if this is what you have for them or if this is what they are, you know, doing out of fear, or if it's the enemy coming to steal, kill and destroy, I pray you would give them insight and wisdom. And if there are any writers or authors listening right now that have been striving and pushing and trying to make things happen in their own strength and Lord, I just pray that they would surrender it all to you. And if you are asking anyone listening to step into a season of obscurity for a time, I pray that they would be willing and that it would be a fruitful time that you would begin developing the film of their life in a way that couldn't happen otherwise. And we pray this in Jesus powerful name. Amen. Amen. Friends, thank you again for joining me on this episode of Hit Splits, and I will talk to you next time.