#232: It is Finished (Finisher Series)

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Welcome to our Finisher series. So if you've been following along, last summer we did our breakthrough series, helping you break through those obstacles keeping you from writing your book. Then in the fall, we did our Overcomer series, just helping you overcome and really do what God has created you to do in your writing. Now it's time for the Finisher series and we are going to be focusing this series on helping you cross the finish line of publishing your book. This is spiritual encouragement, but we're also going to be talking about some practical things and we record these live inside our private group for Christian Book Academy. Now I would love to invite you to join us. Just go to ChristianBookAcademy.com I hope this episode encourages you today. Today's topic is called it is Finished. Like I said, this is part of our Finisher series where we are helping you cross the finish line of publishing your book. Whether that's now or later, we want to pour this encouragement into you to help you do what God has called you to do. And before we dive in, we just want to share a couple highlights from our Christian Book Academy members. From the Facebook group this week, deann shared. She said, I have a great report. My husband and I, I have our own publishing company. Congratulations, Deanne. You know, we teach independent publishing, which means you have your own imprint name or your own publishing company. And she said, we don't have a website yet, but we have a successful, we had a successful journey in getting it done. I named it she publishing happy. And we are over the top happy for you as well, Deanne.

Yeah, congratulations. Pamela Bowen got the proof of her newest book titled Labyrinth Awakening this week. So congratulations, Pam.

There's nothing better than holding that print copy in your hands, right?

Great feeling. And Jan Cox has been working on getting her ebook titled Growing Through God's Word up on Amazon and keep, keep chugging. Jan, you've got this.

Yeah. You're so close. I know. Jan's been, you know, posting in the group about all sorts of things and we've been just pouring into her and so you're, you're gonna get there soon. We're so excited for you as well, Jan. So everyone just keep sharing what God's doing and Your progress and breakthroughs in the Facebook group. We always love to cheer you on in that way. So, like I said, our topic today is it is finished. What do you think of when you hear that phrase? You know, a lot of times I think of Jesus up on the cross, right? It is finished. He once and for all took the sins of the world. And I mean, it was finished. You know, we don't have to earn our salvation. We don't have to, to do those things. He did it for us. He took it on for us. But I was thinking about this recently as I've been working on some big projects, and someone had mentioned to me, shelley, you know, what if you saw this, you know, this assignment from God? Because I really believe that some of the things I'm working on right now are my current assignment in the kingdom of heaven. And she said, what if you thought of this assignment or this project as already being finished, that God has already accomplished it through you and, you know, he's already provided everything that you need, but it's already finished. And being able to rest knowing that God has already accomplished it, it's kind of mind blowing, isn't it? It's, like, hard to really wrap our minds around that, that concept of, like, but it's not finished yet. But in God's eyes, like, he sees everything. You know, time is no issue to him. He sees, you know, everything already right now. And so, you know, what if you started having expectant faith instead of, like we talked about recently, visualizing the worries, visualizing the worst that could happen. What if you start visualizing the best? What if you start having that expectant faith of what God is going to do, excited to see what God is going to do as you partner with him. So this is a partnership. You're not in this on your own. And, you know, we talked about teamwork is the dream work last week, but the best team to have is God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, right? You definitely want those three on your team. Amen.

And so, you know, as you're working to finish, whether it's you're finishing your first draft, you're finishing and going to click that publish button, you're finishing a marketing campaign. We do encourage you to set goals with God in partnership with God. And lately what I've been thinking about and actually recommending is write your goals in pencil. Why do you think I said write them in pencil, C.J.

Well, they can be edited. And so you're continuing to adapt. You know, you can turn that pencil over and use that eraser on the other side. And so, yeah, it's. It's pencils great, because it's an evolving work.

So sometimes in the past, this is just Honest Confessions with Shelly Hits, right Now, I have set my goals in pen, like Sharpie permanent marker. Right.

I can't change now, Shelley.

I know.

No turning back.

And I'm like. But, you know, like, that's what I have to do. I have to finish my book by this date, or I have to launch by this, or I have to do this. And I would set my goals in big permanent Sharpie marker. And lately, God's like, shelly, relax. You know, take a chill pill. Like we used to say when the 80s. But take a deep breath. Write your goals in pencil. And you know what? Lately, during my business meetings with God, and we'll be talking more about how that might look or, you know, work even later, but in my business meetings with God, I've been, like, erasing and rewriting goals, dates, you know, things. You know, moving things around. So I'm using, like, little sticky notes on my calendar so I can move things around, and I'm staying adaptable to what God has for me and his finish line and his goals. And so set your goals with God in partnership, but do it in pencil so that you are staying open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and what he has for you. And, hey, if you prefer Sharpie marker, just know that you may have to start and get another paper out. Right.

Or just use dry erase. A dry erase marker.

Yeah, you could. I have a big dry eraser board. Dry eraser.

If you have to use a marker.

Yeah, use a dry eraser. You could write it on your dry erase marker. But I want you to start thinking in those terms of being flexible and knowing that although maybe you have a plan or you have things, allow God to lead you and to guide you.

Yeah, you know, and when you brought up the what. What comes to mind, you know, when we talk about it is finished, it. It just dawned on me that because Jesus crossed that finish line up on the cross when he declared it is finished, that his work had been done, the mission was accomplished in terms of the sin being paid for up on that cross. That opened the door for the rest of us to actually be able to be kingdom writers, call ourselves kingdom writers. We wouldn't have that opportunity had it not been for what Jesus did. He paved the way. It was like he was a pioneer that opened up new territory. Sort of like the pioneers that settled the west and came out on the wagons and they blazed the trail. And Jesus, as Hebrews says, is the champion who went before us and he finished in order for us to be able to do what we're doing, you know, by writing these stories of faith and our testimonies and things that glorify God and to be able to say we're Kingdom writers. And so a couple other verses that I, or one verse that I stumbled across that I thought was relevant for what we're talking about is Ecclesiastes 7, 8. And we'll read two different translations. The first one's the NLT. So finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride. Now, when I read the next one, the message, Eugene Peterson kind of gives us a flavor that might even bring out a little more meaning. In this verse. He says, endings are better than beginnings. Sticking to it is better than standing out. And so I think that's, you know, for any of us as, as Kingdom writers, you know, as we. As we put our head down and we just keep plowing away and we keep writing, you know, 50 words here, 100 there, 300, maybe 500, whatever it may be in terms of, you know, a day or a couple of hours that we've set aside.

Not getting prideful about that, but saying thank you, Lord, always being cognizant to say thank you, Lord, and being grateful for every single word. Lately I found myself very grateful when I finish. You know, like yesterday I was working on something for my next book and I finished another devotion, and there's just a feeling of, oh, thank you, Lord. You know, because sometimes you go into the writing and you think, oh, is there anything that's going to get done today? You know, you sort of have the initial pushback. I think that's the enemy that likes to throw in the doubt. But if we just sit our butt in the chair and we actually begin to write, and then one word begins to turn into sentences and paragraphs and whole devotions or chapters, we can just continually say, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for giving me the inspiration today. I think it's a good attitude to take. So, you know, endings are better than beginnings. Sticking to it is better than standing out. So a good question we can ask ourselves is, what is your goal? You know, what's your goal? Then working backward to determine what would need to happen each month and each week to reach that goal. And there's real power in being able to work backward and say what. What needs to happen time wise or Whatever I need to do to set aside the time to reach that goal.

You know, last weekend.

You. You already know that I'm an avid runner. I love running. I love following the sport. So last weekend was really one of the, like, the super bowl of American distance running. Yeah, it's the American.

Olympic Marathon trials. And so the top three men and the top three women from that race, which was held in Atlanta, get to go on to the Olympics that are. That are going to be held this.

Summer, which is a big deal.

Tokyo. And one of the. One of the runners, Jared Ward, was a previous Olympian in 2016, and so he was picked as one of the favorites. You know, he finished third in 2016 in the trials. This year, he was even being picked to possibly win. And, you know, the day just didn't go very well for Jared. He finished 27th overall. He was completely shocked at how many people were still, like, in the mix, coming through, like the half marathon mark. But he said something afterwards. He was interviewed afterwards. And this guy, he's just really a young man that has a lot of character. You can just see he's got a depth of maturity, and I love what he said. I think it's relevant for us as writers. He says, I was thinking of my kids at the finish line. I want my kids to know that when things get tough and things got tough for him in that race, he could have easily just bowed out. There are many that did. Dnf, which stands for did not finish.

He says, I was thinking to my kids, I want my kids to know that when things get tough, we can still do hard things. We don't have to pull the plug when things get hard. And I'll tell you what, I think, as many people came out with a deeper respect for Jarrad Ward. Even though he finished 27th, he finished the race, and it wasn't easy. He gritted through. And again, I mean, this was a man that made the Olympic team just four years ago and was far from that. This year, you know, a lot of competition. This year, the race was a little different. Very, very tough. Course. Course may not have suited him, but I just think it really speaks volumes for us. We, as writers are going to have those tough moments. We're going to be tempted to just bag it, maybe just close the book and say, you know, happening. But if we'll stick to it, and we will just keep our rear ends in the chair, and we will just set aside that time and say, lord, would you do something that I can't do in this one or two hour period. We're going to see that this book that you've endeavored to finish will get finished. God will give you the necessary tools, the strength, the power, the inspiration to finish it if we'll do our part in just showing up. And I think that Jared's advice is very relevant for us, that we can still do hard things and finish things when the going gets tough.

Yeah, that's great. And you know, God has reminded me many, many times in my own life and in my own career as a writer and a business owner and all of that. There is wisdom in knowing when to push through and when to rest.

Yeah.

So sometimes you may feel like quitting, but maybe you just need a rest.

I've been recently adding some strength training to my workouts. God is just, he's been having me over the last year and a half to really focus on my health. He. He's just made it very clear in order to do what I, what he's called me to do, I need to have my, my health. I need to have good health. So I've been adding some strength training, which I don't like, which it does get hard. And the person, I'm watching some videos and doing some stuff and she's always like, if you need to take a rest, just don't quit. And so I want to tell you today that it's okay to take a rest. Just don't quit, quit. And so I want to encourage you to ask God today, if you're struggling, if you're just feeling stuck, is it because you need to push through? Like, who was it you were talking of? Jared.

Jared Ward?

Like, Jared, like, you just need to push through. You're at mile 24 of the marathon and you just need to push through. Keep putting one step in front of another. Get your prayer team rallied around you, post in our group, get going, Use your time or your pomodoros, push through. Or do you need to take a little rest? And it doesn't mean that you're quitting, it doesn't mean that you're giving up, but maybe you just need a day or two to rest. And so ask God for that wisdom and he will give it to you and he will show you. Because, you know, like we've been saying, we want you to go at the pace of God's grace and not just try to grind this out, not just try to make it happen in your own strength, but to have that supernatural power behind you and to have God's strength behind you. And so for some of you, like I said, that means learning to push through even when it gets hard. Those of you, you know, so if you're here right now listening, or if you're on the replay, tell me, are you the type of person that you need to learn to push through? So if that's you type, push through, or if you're the type of person that needs to learn to rest. So you're. You're like, you know, you go, go, go, go, go. And you need to learn to rest. If that's you type in the comments, learn to rest. Because there's. We're all different, and I'm the type of person that needs to usually learn to rest. Whereas cj, you're usually, what, prime? You know, with writing and all of that.

Yeah, probably just, you know, really staying motivated and pushing through.

Right?

Push through.

Yeah.

You know, I'm reminded of a quote by Dean Carnassis, guy who wrote a book that actually inspired me to run and get into running 12 years ago, nearly 12 years ago. But he's. He's an ultra runner. He's kind of performed these feats of endurance that get media and press. And he once said, run if you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, but just don't ever give up.

Yes.

And I love that, because no matter whether you're running, you're walking, you're crawling, there's still movement. Okay. It may not be the pace that we want at the time, but there's movement, there's forward momentum, and there's real power in crawling. Some of us may crawl across that finish line. Go ahead and just Google or YouTube finish line crawling marathon, and you'll see people literally, like a hundred yards away, they crawl to that finish. They're gonna get there, you know, come hell or high water, and feel like.

That'S you on this book that you're writing right now.

Yeah, it's taken a little longer than I wanted. I. I wanted to finish at the end of January. And so here we are March 4th. I'm now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I have four more devotions to write. And for those of you that are interested, my latest book is. Is titled Encounters with Jesus. 21 days of drawing close to the sun. And it's been fun, but it's just. I can tell there's been a number of distractions along the way. Days that get chewed up and no writing gets done. Just a number of things that I think any of us as writers can relate to. But Great quote.

Nonetheless, I like what Pam Taylor says. She says God has been teaching me to learn to rest, and I'm actually more productive and, and more at peace. I think you'll find that, like, when you actually have those rhythms and you learn to take time to rest. And Pamela says, maybe I'm bipolar. I need to learn both. Yeah, sometimes we do. Sometimes we need to learn that. That, you know, they call it the circadian rhythm, like with our physical bodies, but that rhythm of, like, learning to push but then learning to rest. Learning to push and then learning to rest and, you know, really listening to God and knowing, like, when those, those times are for you and for me. I have learned to take a Sabbath every Sunday. I don't even, you know, I'm off of technology and I'm usually outside somewhere or doing art, doing something that fulfills me. It has made the world of difference. And I'm learning to fill my cup, you know, and not just to push, push, push all the time, which led me to burn out. And so there's such a wisdom in learning and listening to God and learning when to push and when to rest.

Well, again, I come back to even.

You know, I beat this with a dead horse in terms of an illustration. But with we runners, the growth comes in the rest and the recovery in the sleep.

Yeah.

The most powerful.

Performance enhancing drug that we as athletes or endurance run, leap. It's. It's the most powerful. It's. It's where the growth happens. So when you push hard in a workout, you're breaking down your body. You can't maintain that seven days a week. It's the rest after that workout where the gains come. So some of you, you're gonna be like, man, I'm gonna push today. I'm gonna get four chapters done in my book. And that's great. But the next day probably needs to be a rest day.

Yeah.

So that you can just recharge again and allow those batteries to fill back up as you plug back in to.

The Holy Spirit and the power that is available there.

Like when we have our virtual writing retreats, it's an intense two days of writing or working or whatever you. And we recommend seeking God and asking him what those days, you know, what. What he has for you for those days. So you're working at the pace of his grace. But we always recommend, if you can, to try to schedule a rest day after. Or two. A couple rest days, because you'll need it. Yeah.

Well, before we get into our one minute reflection, there's One other verse that I came across yesterday or the day before, and I just thought, man, I love when you, when you read a verse and you know it's something that hits you for one, you think, oh, I forgot about that verse. You know, most of us have probably read through the Bible. It's just that when you hit a verse that you've forgotten about, it can be refreshing when you sort of linger there. And I wanted to share this with you. It's Psalm 37, 23, and this is the new living translation. Translation, it says, the Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights. I love that he delights in every detail of their lives. I want you to know, Kingdom writers, that God cares and delights regarding every little detail in every little part of the process that you're in with your book. He delights in it. And I want you just to rest in that, to say, don't beat yourself up. Oh, I wish I was four chapters further than I am. I'm so. I'm just behind. And we can beat ourselves up. We can be our worst critic, right? We're our harshest critic. We beat ourselves up. And yet God says, son, daughter, I delight in where you are right now, and we're going to finish this together. And I care about every little detail, even though every little word that is arranged in the sentence. And isn't it cool when you look over something, like you kind of read it a second time and you rearrange the words or something else, like, comes and you're like, yeah, that's good. You know, you kind of almost compliment yourself. You're like, man, that.

It's like, it's just like, that was.

A cool little, you know, working of words. It fits and it's fun. And you realize, thank you, Lord. Thank you for helping me there. There's just a little more freshness in the way that sentence sounds. And he cares about every little intimate detail along this process of publishing. So don't forget that, that, you know, he's. He's with you. He's your cheerleader. He's. He's pushing you. He's empowering you. You're going to get across that finish line and there's no part of the race that he's not interested in. So we're going to move into our one minute reflection and as we do that, as always, we're going to play a little music and we simply want you to ask, what is God saying to you today? You know, what stood out? What kind of thoughts did God inspire in you. And feel free to write that in the comments and, you know, share. You know, what, what spoke to you most? How to. How did the Lord speak to you in a way that might encourage you today?

Sam?

All right, we would love to hear from you, any insight that you gained from just hearing from God of what he wants to say to you today. And as I was just asking God if he just had a picture and encouragement for you today. And this, this picture just came up in my mind of this little girl swinging. And, you know, it's like when you were young and there's just something about swinging, isn't there? Like playing on the playground.

I loved it when I was a.

Kid getting on the swings, you know, pumping your legs, maybe seeing how high you could go. I don't know if you, you probably were the kind that jumped off and.

Yeah, we used to jump backwards underneath the swing.

Oh, my goodness. Your mom probably didn't watch you do that.

Yeah, it was crazy.

But, you know, but the picture, I was just, like, having fun. The wind blowing in your hair. And so I just want you to close your eyes and picture yourself swinging and a smile on your face, the wind blowing in your hair, the sun shining. And then I want you to picture Father God standing behind you, gently pushing you, gently pushing you, and he is right there with you, and that he actually delights in your joy, that you're having joy and that you're experiencing joy. And so you can go ahead and open your eyes. But I just want you to think, think about that, that picture. And I was just asking God a little, like, well, you know, what does that exactly mean? Well, as we've been talking about, like, it is finished and, you know, really trusting God with finishing the work he's starting in you, but then also knowing when to push and when to rest. I feel like there's some of you that, that God is inviting you into times of play to play with him, to rest, to have that joy to be filled up, to do things that bring you joy. And maybe some of you have just been working really hard and you would benefit from that. And it could be something little that you do maybe each day or something special that you do once a month or each week or something like that. But it was interesting. Robin posted this quote in our group this week, and I saw it, like, after I had got to give me this picture, and I thought, this is a great quote to share. And it just said you often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you. Alexander Den Heyer and I just thought that was really good.

You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you. And so if you need some ideas, I recently brainstormed and wrote out a huge list. I just called it a joy list for myself and I shared it with you on my blog. And you can find the link in the description or just go to trainingauthors.com joy list. But then it will just give you a ton of ideas. And if you feel that way today, I encourage you to go to that list and then brainstorm your own list and choose one thing that you can do this week that can help you to spark joy.

So we're going to close in prayer. And, you know, I just want you to raise your hands, you know, toward, toward your screen, and that'll signify that we're all just, you know, praying, praying for one another and in this together.

And really, just as Moses had someone on his right and his left helping him, you know, Aaron and Hurricane lift his arms during the battle, we're all helping one another as we lift our arms. And so, Father, I just thank you so much for each and every one of these CBA members, those who are watching live, those who are watching the replay, those who perhaps couldn't join. And we pray for every single member of Christian Book Academy. And we ask, Lord, that you would just give them a burst of strength and energy. Maybe there's some that are struggling with the winter blues wherever they're at. Maybe the weather outside reflects their inner life and their mood. And I just want to pray that you would shine your light in their lives. I pray you strengthen us to be able to finish the race, be able to finish the book that we're working on. Pray that you would give inspiration, creativity, the ability to tap into manna from heaven that is nourishing to those who read whatever you've put on their hearts. And I pray that every single book that is published over these next few months, Lord, I pray that those books would multiply, that they'd get into the right hands at the right time, that we would be able to look back in amazement at what you've done and how you've opened new doors for us and allowed the work of our hands and also the work that you've inspired on our hearts and minds to get to many people. And I just pray that you do a powerful work day to get us across the finish line and wherever we're at in the process. I thank you for each member here. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Just as a side testimony, I often say books are door openers. And last night our realtor came over and he. We gave him a few of my. Of our books. And during the course of the night, I was able to share. One of the books I'd given him was broken crayons, still color. I was able to share with him just a little bit of my testimony that is in that book. And it just opened a door for. For an incredible divine appointment. And God just used us in powerful ways to minister to him. And I really believe that having those books, it was part of that. That it was part of what God used to open the door. And so, you know, you just never know what God's gonna do once you have your book. And so, you know, if you already have published your book, make sure you keep a few copies around so that as those opportunities come up, you can, you can, you know, give them as well.

Yeah. And if you would keep Craig is his name, keep Craig in your prayers, you know that the Lord would just keep drawing him closer to himself. Craig's a believer. His father was a pastor. And yet you could just tell Craig is a busy, busy, busy guy and not a lot of margin. And yet you could tell that that moment, that divine appointment we had in our condo with him last night really ministered to him. It was one of those moments where you're just like, thank you, Lord, for that. Thank you for using us in his life. And so lift Craig up if you join us in that.

Yeah, I love what Nancy said. She says God gave me this encouragement this morning because of my current health. Tiredness in your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 60, 16, 11. Yes. In his presence is fullness of joy. And we can have joy despite our circumstances. Right. And so we just, just so grateful for each one of you. We are cheering you on, we are praying for you. And keep us posted. Let us know where are you stuck? What do you need help with? Post in the group. You know, that's what we're here for, so I can't say it often enough. Make sure you're. You're connecting, you're posting, you're interacting, and we're cheering you on.

Love you guys.

All right, love you.

Bye.

Bye. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of the Finisher series. It really means the world to us that you would invest time and be here with us today. So thank you. We have a free gift for you. We recently just made this available to the public. Previously was only available to the paid members in Christian Book Academy, but it's a copy of my publishing map. I hand drew and lettered this map out for you and it literally takes you through the steps of of publishing your book. And our members love this resource. Some have said they print it out and they use it every single time they publish a book. You'll also get access to a video of me explaining the publishing map to you. And so I really hope that this also helps you overcome any confusion or overwhelm regarding independent publishing. And you can download this for free@trainingauthors.com.

Or just swipe up and the link will be in your show notes. Thank you again for joining us. We love you all so much. See you next time.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to to join our community of Kingdom Writers.