#295: But God

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 Shelli 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.

I don't know how many of you watch or tune into Super Bowls. You know, the big football championship that happens every year. But on February 5, 2017, things look pretty bleak for the New England Patriots. And some of you might remember that Super Bowl. It was Super Bowl 51. By the middle of the third quarter, they found themselves down 28 3. Now this is the middle of the third quarter, so there's a quarter and a half to go.

To the Atlanta Falcons. No team had ever come back to win a Super bowl after such a deficit. In fact, in all of the playoffs, there had only been two other comebacks that were more in history. But in the super bowl, never before 10 points was the most a team had ever come back from. But as can happen in sports, and many of you know this across the spectrum, a swing in momentum can change things in a hurry. There would be no Falcons blowout that day. Instead, the patriots would score 31 up unanswered points to win the game 34 to 28 in overtime. As baseball legend Yogi Berra used to say, and many of you are familiar with this phrase, it ain't over until it's over.

And when it comes to a momentum swing in life, these two little words but God that you've been writing about, how many know that those two words can make all the difference in swinging the momentum to whatever God desires? We see this throughout Scripture. I want to actually give you several instances, and these are just a few, all throughout Scripture where we see those two words combined. But God. So listen to this Joseph. You might remember Joseph's brother's intended harm, the scripture says, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20 David was being pursued by violent people seeking to kill him. But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive. Psalm 54:4 Jonah was headed toward a sure grave inside of a whale.

But you, O Lord, my God, snatched me from the jaws of death. Jonah.

Jesus expands our limits. And some of you alluded to this. Jesus looked at them intently and said, humanly speaking it is impossible, but with God, these are Jesus's words. Everything is possible. Matthew 19:26.

Jesus was placed in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. Acts 13:30 Paul was arrested for preaching the Gospel. But God has protected me right up to this present time, so I can testify to every everyone, from the least to the greatest. Acts 26:22.

Few, if any, would die in our place, you and I. But as Romans 5. 8 says, But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Like Paul, we face conflict from every direction, including internal fear. But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus 2 Corinthians 7:6.

You and I used to follow our own evil desires as rebels toward God. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much. Ephesians 2:4. Paul considered himself the worst of sinners. And by the way, don't we all, at some point in our lives, consider ourselves the worst? But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst of sinners. 1st Timothy 1:16.

And like Israel in Egypt, we've all been a slave to something, every one of us. But the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. Deuteronomy 5:15.

I want to just say this kingdom, that there are going to be moments in our lives when the odds seem overwhelmingly against us. Overwhelmingly. Defeat is a foregone conclusion, a comeback, absolutely impossible in human eyes. But God, if we can remember those two words, we have.

Hope for any dire circumstance in our lives, no matter what the odds, no matter what deficit you and I face in our lives, in our writing. Some of you may have woken up this morning and you said, man.

Right off the bat, the negative thoughts started happening. Man, I'm not gonna get any writing done. I'm just too distracted. This is just, you know, I don't even know why, maybe even some of you. I don't even know I signed up for this.

CBA membership. It's just going to be a waste. And then we have these thoughts over and over again. The enemy likes to shoot the arrows, one after the other, of doubt. It's just not going to work out. The same thing's going to happen. You're going to get into the same habits. No writing is going to get done. It's just this negativity. But I want to tell you today that every one of us deal with that resistance. Every one of us. And Deb Butterfield deals with this resistance. Nancy Booth deals with this resistance. These ladies have written multiple Books, they are here to say that they're on the other side to say, but God help them out. Shelly and I have written numerous books, both together on our own, and I can tell you that every single one is a battle. It is a deficit. It's one of those things that you think, oh, there's just no way we're going to get over the hump to win this victory. There's just no way. But God. There is resistance. And I've said this before. Donald Miller used to say that every. Every time he put his butt in a chair and sat down to write, he always feels resistance. There's always something else to do. There's always a way he could spend his time. But he said, you know what? One day I just said, I'm calling BS on resistance. I'm going to sit here until I get into a flow, and if I just have to start writing words that don't even make sense and that turn into.

Comprehendable sentences, I'm going to do that. And he did. And every one of us could say the same thing, that there's huge resistance. But God. But God will have the last say. As long as God is on our side.

Amen.

As long as he's in our corner, as long as he's on our team. And by the way, we're on his team. We've been invited to be on his team. As long as he is a factor, and he is, anything can happen, including your book getting finished. So I want to encourage you with that, because there's going to be resistance. Just know it's going to come.

Yeah.

And we even just like to say, you know, if you have to just sit there for a second, close your eyes and say, okay, go ahead. Bring. Bring all the resistance you want. Just let it. Let it wash over you. Acknowledge it. We're not saying it's not there. Acknowledge it and say, is that it? Is that it? Is that all that you have for me? Okay, if you're done. But God. But God.

Yeah, and neuroscience actually shows that if you embrace some of those negative thoughts instead of always trying to just resist it, like, oh, just push it away. Push it away. If you just embrace it, say, okay, I'm feeling this. I'm feeling fear right now. I'm feeling like I don't know what I'm doing. And it's okay if you don't, because a lot of times I don't know what I'm doing either. You know, we just take one step at a time and we learn. And God will give us the next step. But embrace those things. And then actually neuroscience shows that that negative thought will lose its hold in your brain, you know, and then we surrender it to God. And like CJ Said, we rely on him and his strength. And the resistance comes. Kingdom writers, whether or not you're writing today or you're marketing, like if you're doing marketing stuff too, sometimes the resistance comes even harder for me when I'm trying to sit down and do the marketing. Right. So this applies to you, no matter which stage of the Kingdom writers path you're on.

But I just want to close by re emphasizing, you know, the scripture that.

Paul, you know, Paul said it himself. He says we face conflict from every direction. And he even mentioned other things. But one of the things that stood out to me is he even said we even face this internal fear, this fear inside of us. But he then said, but God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. In this case, it was someone that the Lord sent their way as a very tangible encouragement. I think for many of you, CBA can be a very tangible Titus, that God sent your way as an encouragement to help pull you from sort of this pit of discouragement. That's what this CBA can do. And it's a community where we're all like minded. We're all endeavoring to finish the things God has put on our hearts. We feel called to something. We feel called to something greater than ourselves. We want to leave a mark, we want to leave a legacy that perhaps has an eternal.

Fruit attached to it. Isn't it exciting to think about that? That a person could pick up your book one day and you may not meet them until you get to heaven, but they come up and say thank you for your book. I believe there's going to be those moments. Just believe it with every ounce of my being that there's going to be that kind of fruit borne out. And so consider today and tomorrow, like the Lord sending Titus your way to bring encouragement. And we're in that group, you're in that group, writing together. Yes, it's virtual, but we're all of one mind and spirit in Christ. That's the neat thing about, that's what sets CBA apart from, from so many is we really want this to be a Christ centered, truly kingdom minded kind of kind of thing. It's not on our own. We're not out there on our own. We're doing this, endeavoring to do things with the Lord's help, the Lord working through Us in us. So, but God, hold on to those two words today and tomorrow, whenever the doubt comes.

But God, whenever the confusion comes, I don't know what I, you know, what I'm writing. But God, remember, just keep coming back to him, you know, and pray before you start writing. Pray before you start doing your marketing tasks and connect with God and say, what is it you have for me right now? And it may be something different than what you planned. And I was just praying for you all this morning, just asking the Lord if he had just any encouragement for you. And I just felt like he gave me the picture of a roller coaster.

Anyone ever, you know, roller coaster fan at all? Especially when you were younger, Those of us over 40, like, I don't know that I'd even want to ride roller coasters anymore because of my neck and everything. But when I was younger, I grew up in Ohio, where we have Cedar Point. And those of you in the United States probably have heard of it. It's, like, known for its roller coasters. And I was kind of an adrenaline junkie in a way, you know, and I love to go on those roller coasters, but some of you may not like them at all. But I just felt like the Lord was like, you know, many of you have taken a step of faith to sign up for Christian Book Academy, and it's like, you know, stepping into that roller coaster, you're. You're clicking your. Your seatbelt, and all of a sudden we're. We're starting to ascend that first hill, and all of a sudden you're thinking, oh, my goodness, what am I doing? What have I done?

And you're like, oh, you know, and the fear. I think Marcel was talking on the call it maybe yesterday, but she was like, already, like, you know, the fear was coming in, you know, just. But also fear can be turned also into excitement. So I've heard it said that fear is excitement without breath. So if you breathe into it, it's actually. That fear is actually a little bit of, like, an excitement. So as you're ascending that roller coaster hill, there's that fear, but there's also the excitement of what's ahead. And, you know, on the roller coaster, what do we have? Ups and downs, right? And I just feel like the Lord wanted me to encourage you right now. You may be on an up. You know, we had the Kingdom Writers Conference, and, you know, you're signing up for, you know, something new Christian Book Academy, and all of those things release dopamine in your brain, right? And it's like an up. But don't be surprised if you have a down. It's part of just the regular journey in life. We have ups, we have downs, and there will be moments where you're just like, I'm ready to give up. What have I done? This isn't working. Or, you know, my books aren't selling, or, you know, I don't know if I'll ever finish this or whatever it is. You might have family crises or family things going on, health issues. But whatever it is, I want you to know that God is right there with you. Jesus is strapped into the seat right next to you and he just wants to reach over and hold your hand. You know, he's. He just wants to reach over, hold your hand. He's going to comfort you. He's right there with you through every up, through every down. And even though we can't sustain this up feeling forever, it's okay because he's with you and he's going to finish this, this journey, you know, just like a roller coaster ride eventually finishes and it, it kind of come coasts back in to the starting place. He's gonna be with you. You're gonna finish this journey. And then, you know, you may not feel this way. Like I said, if you're over 40, but when you were younger and if you, if you liked roller coasters like I did, you get off the roller coaster and you think, I'm ready to do it again.

And even though it was scary and it was, you know, whatever, it was also exhilarating. Right? And you're ready to do it again. And so, you know, just know that it is worth it and God is with you. Jesus is with you every step of the way. You are not alone. And so cj, why don't you just pray over each one of us right now?

Yeah. And just real quick, I want you guys to be thinking about your own personal but God story that you might be able to weave into your writing. Even we all have those. But God, you know, we're in this situation, things didn't look good, but God help, help me in this. And so those are just ways we can be glorifying the Lord. But just be thinking about your own personal, whether it's a recent one or something that happened 10 years ago that can be shared. That gives God that, that credit. And yeah.

And to take that a step further, consider possibly posting on social media your but God story this week. So I share stories and testimonies on social media that never end up in my books. That people will tell me have impacted them. And so, you know, and maybe this. This story will end up in a book at one point, but pray about it and consider also posting. It doesn't have to be super long, but share something this week, even on social media, about a but God story.

Yeah. So Father, I just thank you again for your word. I thank you for all the examples that you've given us through the biblical record of the but God stories. I just thank you, Lord, that people like Paul and Jonah and Joseph and numerous others.

They struggled, they were in horrible situations. They didn't know what to do, but God came through. And we ask, Lord, that you would be glorified in our lives through.

The deficits that we sometimes find ourselves in. The just feeling like we're so far behind that there's just no way a comeback is possible. But God. And so, Lord, we are asking that even today.

These kingdom writers would have but God stories that had you not empowered them, had you not come through, had you not brought that breakthrough that. That they would have still been stuck. And so I just want to pray that you would bring. Release. Bring that breakthrough today. And whatever form that looks like in each and every writer here.

I pray that everyone here today and tomorrow would at least move forward to make progress. And again, that looks different for every single person. And so we just thank you for the fruit that's going to be borne out today and tomorrow. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. Amen and amen. So. But God, you might want to even write that out on a sticky note. Put it on your writing desk today and it's a great reminder and great encouragement.

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 story 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 join our community of Kingdom writers.