#066 - You Can Do Hard Things

Hey friends, this is Shelly Hitz from ChristianBookAcademy.com with another episode of the Hits Blitz. And today we're going to talk about how you can do hard things. Now I know that can be a self help statement and a rah rah, rah, you can do hard things, but it's through the power of Christ. It's through partnering with God. It's through allowing God to write through you that you are a priestly pen, right, and in the hands of the author of life. And so it's not that you do it in your own strength, it's that God gives you the strength. He gives you the understanding, he gives you the next steps. And this week we opened registration for the Kingdom Writers Conference. Well actually when you are listening to it, it will have been last week. And to be honest, it wasn't going as well as I hoped for the All Access pass. And so I looked at some things and oh, I was realizing that we had changed something and that if we, you know, I, I could change it back, but it was going to take quite a bit of work and it was like the, the day that, you know, we had opened everything up and so, you know, it would have been easy for me just to say, no, I'm not going to do this, I'm just going to let it play out. But, but I felt like the Lord was like, no, Shelly, you can do hard things, you can do this. And you know what? It only ended up taking me maybe three or four hours. I mean, I know that's still a long time. It's three or four hours, but three or four hours. And then immediately I started to see a change in the results and it seemed like it was really making a difference. Now time will tell over the next couple weeks how it all shows, shakes out, but I, I think that change was what was needed. So sometimes when you're in the midst of, you know, maybe you're writing a book and you need to make a change in the chapters or in what you're doing and it, it just feels hard. That happened to me when I was writing my book Broken Crayons Still Color. It was originally gonna be a 12 chapter book. It ended up being, or a 12 week study ended up being like six weeks, um, I think maybe seven weeks if you have like an introductory week.

I basically cut out half of my book, my first draft. That felt hard. But you know what, it has paid off. And people are being impacted for eternity because of that book. And I think, you know, just making it A little bit lighter as far as like length and making it easier to consume. And also just going along with the amount of weeks that people normally do studies in their churches. They normally, when I was doing research, they normally do six or seven weeks. And so it just fits into people's programming. And I think that's why my book sells so well is people are buying it for studies. But anyways, what is it that you're in that might require a big change? It might require what feels like a momentous effort, but it could really make all the difference. For the success of that, take a deep breath, pray and ask the Lord for his wisdom, for his guidance, but ask him for his strength to do it. Because you can do hard things, my friend, with the power of Christ, with him, you know, helping you. Now I, like I said, I mentioned that I, you know, did that, all that work to make that change, you know, with the all access pass and I worked extra hours to do that. But then, you know, I was able to take some extra time off the next day. So it all balanced out. Like you don't have to just keep pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing. You need a balance. But there are times when you have to face the, you know, the facts like this isn't working, this isn't going the way I had hoped. And instead of just wallowing in self pity or accepting defeat, sometimes we need to come to the Lord and say, is there a change I need to make? And be willing to do the hard thing even when we don't feel like it. I didn't feel like making that change, I didn't feel like doing it. But I sense that that was what I was supposed to do and I did it. So know that you're not alone, you were in this with you. And let me pray for you, Lord, I just pray for everyone listening right now. If there's something that's just looming over them, maybe it's something that isn't going as well as they hoped. They're not getting the result they wanted. They're. Maybe it's something with their book and their, the writing of it. I just pray you would show them first of all, if there's something they need to change. And then if it feels too much, too heavy, too big, pray Lord, that you would give them what they need, that you would help them, you would give them the strength, you would give them the insight. I pray for supernatural productivity. I pray that it would just be easy, that what they thought would be hard, what they thought would be heavy. That ends up being light. Your yoke is easy, your burden is light. And so Lord, we just want to be yoked with you today and we pray this in Jesus powerful name. Amen. Amen. Friends, I hope that you will see this not as another burden of like, oh, I have to do hard things, but as an opportunity that you get to do this with the Lord. And if something isn't going the way that you want it to go, have a business meeting with God, do some journaling, do some prayer and really seek his wisdom. We also will give you insight in Christian Book Academy. Post in the private group or if you haven't joined us yet, come join us@christianbookacademy.com I also do Voxer office hours once a month where you can ask me a question and I will give you personalized feedback on that so you're not alone. We are with you. We can help you navigate whatever you're going through, but ultimately God is the one that will give you the strength to do the next step, even when it feels hard. All right, I will talk to you in the next episode.