#343: Mentoring Moment: God Did It!

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.

So today our theme is God did it. And CJ is going to share some encouragement with you as Kingdom Writers to help you on this journey.

Yeah. So I think how many would agree that as Christian writers, we have targets on our backs.

Amen.

Right. And you know, there's a spiritual enemy that wants to thwart our attempts to write words that outlast us. It's just going to happen. And I just want to say that if you're feeling that, that's actually a good place to be because that shows you that you're doing something that's threatening to the enemy.

Right.

If you've been writing for God's glory for any length of time, you've no doubt experienced those days when it seems like you might be triple teamed by demonic resistance. And so what I want to do is I want to look at a story that's tucked away in First Chronicles chapter 14, and it begins in verse 8. So if you wanted to turn there, you can, or look at it later. And we'll try to even put that in the, the comments. First Chronicles 14, 8, 17. And I just want to say that it wasn't long before King David, and by the way, King David, how many know he was a Kingdom writer. He among many talents that he had, he was a writer. We, we see that in the Psalms, his, you know, poetry, songs that he wrote. He was quite an accomplished person, very talented. And yet he was also named as a man after God's own heart, which I think all of us, we want to be men and women after God's own heart. But it wasn't long after he took the throne, and this is the story here, that.

He faced resistance. And I want to just read that a few verses to you. It says in verse 8, when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him. But David was told they were coming, so he marched out to meet them.

Now I want to say that in a similar way.

You might say that if we were to reword that, we might say, when the enemy of our souls heard that, Jennifer or Deb or Leo, you can fill in your name there. When the enemy of our souls heard that they became A Kingdom rider. They mobilized all their forces to capture him or her.

Yes.

I want to say, you've got a target on your back. And the Philistines were constantly a thorn in the sides of the Israelites in terms of their establishment and keeping their eyes on the Lord. And they were sort of that. That enemy. If we were to mirror that we have a spiritual enemy today, we no longer look at people groups as our enemies. We. We have spiritual enemies that are after us, and they're mobilizing their forces right now. Even I think some of you even face that leading up to this virtual writing retreat, trying to keep us from being productive, trying to keep us from getting our rear ends in the chair, trying to keep us distracted by what's going on around us.

But I want to say that what happened next, as we're going to see, was a great blueprint for each of us to follow. This morning. The first thing that you're going to notice David did was ask the Lord what he should do. He knew God was the true king. And this sensitivity to the Lord's leading led to the following result. So David's asking the Lord. The Lord then says, yes, you should go ahead and attack the enemy here. And then it says in verse 11, so David and his troops went up to Baal Perazim and defeated the Philistines there. And the next three words, these are what the words that David said, God did it.

Amen.

God did it. That's the theme this weekend. And David exclaimed, he used me to burst through my enemies like a raging force flood. So they name that place BAAL Perazim, which means the Lord who bursts through.

So I want to say that Shelley and I both have experienced fierce resistance in our writing over the years and many times. And maybe some of you can relate. I've given in and bailed on intended writing times. How many of you wrote it down in your calendar? You intended to write. You blocked off two or three hours. But other things get in the way, and they could even be good things, or they could be things that you just kind of blow through two to three hours on social media or whatever. It might be good things, productive things, but the writing time gets bumped. And if I'm really honest, it was probably because I gave in to, you know, the resistance. And so, you know, but other times I've held my ground and I've kept my butt in the chair while asking the Lord for help.

And, oh, the joy. And many of you can relate to this here this morning, you've already Seen some victories this week. Oh, the joy of seeing God burst through my enemies like a raging flood. That's why we do these things, these virtual writing retreats or any kinds of gatherings like this, our war room prayer gathering, which will be next Thursday.

This is why we do these things. We want to see the Lord burst through our enemies, the front lines, like a raging flood. And I want to say, at the end of a successful writing.

Day, like David, I find myself crying out, God did it. I recently finished a devotional that is geared toward Christian writers, and many of you will.

Basically be familiar. Some of the stuff that I share on.

These virtual writing retreats or other times of encouragement are being repurposed, you know, into some devotionals for Christian writers out there to bring encouragement to them. But I tell you, every time I finish something, I lately have said, oh, God did it. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am so aware of my weaknesses. I am so aware of how easy it is for me just to give in to something else rather than sitting and sticking with finishing something. But, oh, when I finish it, there's such a relief. There's such a, oh, man, just a victorious feeling of what God did in and through me. And the same goes for you. And so there are days that I had no business completing something, but by the end of that day, I look back and said, man, I got more done than I thought I would. And again, again, I'm just getting into that muscle memory of saying, God did it. Thank you, Lord, you did it. Every word. You inspired through me. Because otherwise I would have just, you know, wanted to sit around and eat bonbons or, you know, whatever it might be. Do people still do that, by the way? Do they sell bon bons?

But, you know, wouldn't it be nice if just right there, we could stop and say, all right, we live in the victory. Everything's going to be smooth sailing from here. But if you continue reading the story, that's not the case. And so in verse 13, here's the words we read. But after a while, the Philistines returned. Oh, they returned. And they raided the valley again. And wouldn't it be nice if our enemy just left us alone? Just. Just you go your way, I'll go mine. Let me just write no resistance whatsoever. Let me just get this chapter done. It doesn't work that way. We live in a world that is at war. It's at war. There is a God who's still on the throne. He's still in charge, but for some Reason, he's still allowing the enemy to run around on a leash. And so it would be nice if we could just move into never ending writing bliss after the victories that we experience. But this isn't realistic in the world that we live in. Now listen, though. David did the same thing. He called upon the Lord, what should I do now? If you go on and read.

The Lord actually gave him a different strategy. He said, move around the back, and then when you hear the sound through the poplar trees, you're going to know that the Lord's going to deliver you. So he kind of gave David these little, this is what's going to happen. I want to say that we as Kingdom writers, we may have different strategies that the Lord gives us to overcome the enemy. And today he may give you a whole other strategy. It may not have to do with sitting and getting two chapters written. It may be a marketing strategy that the Lord outlines in you today and tomorrow. And it's something you never would have thought about if you hadn't sought the Lord. But David sought the Lord. And the Lord says, this time we're going to make the Philistines look like fools in this particular way. And I want to say that there's an enemy that will look like a fool. Your life in my life. Because the Lord gave you a new strategy, because the Lord gave you a new outline, because the Lord gave you a new book idea or a twist to the plot. Maybe you're writing a fiction novel and there's a whole different plot twist that you never even thought about. And he'll give you that. But it requires seeking him fervently, seeking him with all of your heart, as David did. And so after these decisive victories over his enemies, we read at the end of this little section, so David's fame spread everywhere. And the Lord caused all the nations to fear David. There was a healthy fear of David because of what David was, what God was doing through David.

But I want to say this, that it very well may be, and I could be looking at several right here in this virtual writing retreat. It may very well be that your fame spreads everywhere as writers. Your books could become bestsellers overnight.

And life could change quickly. Social media channels could take off like never before. You find yourself, one morning you have 5,000 followers, the next you have 15,000. Why? Well, maybe you were on a key interview on a radio station, or maybe somebody ran across your book that has a channel of 300,000 followers and they just gave you a quick little shout out, wow, this book really impacted me. How many know in this day and age, you the fame could take off just like that. We live in an age like that.

And you could have all kinds of interview requests. You could have invitations to come and speak and share the message of your book. But I want to say this as I close. Regardless of any fame that you and I experienced from our writing, just like David experienced fame because of the victories that God brought about.

May these three words always be on the tips of our tongues. And what are those three words?

God did it.

May we always.

Be aware that we didn't do anything without the Lord's help. David sought the Lord two different times in this short little section. First Chronicles, 14, 8, 17. And in both times, the Lord brought victory. And I want to say we are seeking the Lord as kingdom writers this weekend for whatever the Lord wants to do through you. But no matter what you get done at the end of this weekend, I want you to.

Fall to your knees and say, God did it. God did it. We are kingdom writers.

We're not writers who just write to fill our bank accounts. If the Lord wants to do that, fine. There are many writers like that today. They write for one reason. They're just trying to get more book sales, period. Do we want book sales? Yes. But we want much more than that. We want impact through those book sales. We want eternal impact. And that's something only God can bring about. And so God did it. God did it.

Yeah. And I think that one of the things that, you know, is just so important is just like what CJ Was saying, constantly coming back and giving God the credit. Right? Giving God the glory. We live in a. In a society that is so humanistic, which that just means we are our own gods. And, you know, it's like we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We can do this. You can, you know, striving and this and that. And so being able to really put that focus back on God. God did it. You know, David was a great example. He faced opposition, but what did he do? He went straight to the Lord. And so I pray that each one of us does that as well. So, C.J. why don't you close us in prayer?

Father, we. We come to you, and we just thank you so much for your word. I thank you for these stories that are tucked away in your. In your word, Lord. And I thank you for. For David's example that he was a man that had authority. He was a man that had established a firm reign. And yet you did it all through him you allowed him. You called him from the shepherd fields. When he had no business of being a king, you called him. And then you brought about victory after victory through him. And I thank you for that example. And I pray, Lord, that each of us would seek you fervently, that we would call upon your name, that no matter what we face, we would watch you bring the victory and listen for your directives. I pray, Lord, that this weekend would be powerful. In whatever each of these Kingdom writers are doing, whatever they're working on, I pray you give them the strategies, give them the words, give them the ideas, the creativity that they're looking for in order to accomplish something worthwhile. And when I say worthwhile, something that has.

Substance, something that impacts people eternally and something that they would not have received had they not sought you. And so, Lord, thank you for all that you're going to do this weekend. In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. I hope that you all are a little bit more encouraged and ready to face that resistance with the Lord.

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 join our community of Kingdom writers.