#422 Mentoring Moment: New Vision

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.

Today, CJ has some encouragement for you on this theme. New Vision. So, cj, why don't you share with us the encouragement you have for us today?

Yeah. So reading In Genesis, chapter 21, many of you will be familiar with.

All of the events surrounding Abraham and Sarah. The promise that they're going to be given a child, you know, Isaac. And.

Of course, before that, we see that, you know, they really tried to make this promise happen themselves. And we see Sarah, you know, bringing in her. Her servant, having her servant sleep with Abraham. Ishmael's born. And so we've got that dynamic here. But over time.

Sarah's not very happy with. With Hagar and Ishmail and especially as there's the birth of their son Isaac now and basically tells Abraham, I, I want you to get rid of. Of Hagar and. And Ishmael. Ishmael is not going to be sharing the inheritance with my son Isaac. And of course, God confirmed this and s told Abraham, do. Do what Sarah tells you to do. And in other words, obey your wife in this. And so now we're going to pick up in Genesis, Genesis 21:14, and I want to just read a few verses here. It says here. So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar's shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beershiba. Let me just quickly ask you, have you felt at all recently or at some point in your life in your writing journey that you've been aimlessly wandering around? That's kind of a key thing here. Aimlessly wandering around in the wilderness.

Verse 15. When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. And then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. I don't want to watch the boy die, she said as she burst into tears.

But God heard the boy crying. And the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, Hagar, what's wrong? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants. And here's the key right here. Then God opened Hagar's eyes and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. And we'll, we'll stop there. But, you know, even as we go through here.

We could, we could playfully replace the word.

Boy in this instance, in this passage with our books. I want you. I want to just playfully amuse you for a second here. So verse 15. When the water was gone. What if we. What if we said, when the words are gone or when our vision is gone, when our resources are gone, the. That we have for this book.

She put the book.

In the shade of a bush. How many of us set our books aside.

Or have shelved books in the past that we felt called to write? But we shelve them, we put them in the shade, and there's just nothing.

That we feel like we can do any further. Kind of just watch them slowly die.

And so verse 16. Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away, and she said, I don't want to watch. What if we said the book die? I don't want to watch the book die, she said as she burst into tears.

But God heard the book crying.

Some of us lay that down and we're just like, oh, I can't. I. I can't do it anymore. But the book just keeps coming back. It just keeps coming back. It keeps crying out for attention. It keeps crying out for us to finish it, to answer the call that God has on our lives. Again, I'm just amusing you here. I'm not trying to change scripture. I'm just getting us to see the perspective here of being without resources.

And so here we've got this story of Hagar being sent away, and it's. It's not a happy situation. She's being sent out into the wilderness. You're kind of on your own.

And yet, you know, could it be. Could it be possible that in her pain and despair, Hagar assumes the worst, that God is not with her and that he's not going to help her, that he doesn't see her suffering and that this perspective blinds her to the well that's right in front of her now? Is it possible, put yourself in this situation. Is it possible that in our own trials and pain, and we all go through it, we all have different events that happen. Trials, pain, things that just aren't going our way. Or at least we. It doesn't seem so. Is it possible that we let that same lie sneak in? Maybe this time he won't come to my aid. We might Say, and my eyes become so fixed on that lie that I'm blinded to the grace and the joy that's right in front of me, all around me, or perhaps right around the corner. How many know that God can change our circumstance in a second? But how many know that we need new vision? We need our eyes to be open to the possibilities, the things that God wants to show us. But we're just blinded. We're blinded by our circumstance, but many times we're blinded by the perspective that and the lens that we're looking through. So I want to say that we need God to open our eyes to the ideas and possibilities for our books. Even when our resources have been used up and we feel like we're dying in the desert. How many of us have felt like we're dying? We're flailing, we're wandering on aimlessly. What am I even doing this for? Did God really even call me to this? What is. Does God see me and we kind of get in this Woe is me. We've all been there. Come on. We can all admit it. And I want to say this, that God wants to inject hope into our writing. Like a cool glass of water in the midst of a drought. You just think about how refreshing that sounds. A cool glass of water in the midst of a drought.

Now, as you may recall, this wasn't the first time that Hagar found herself in the desert more than she found herself in the desert more than once. Back in chapter 16, you might recall that near the spring, in a desert, as a pregnant runaway at that time, because she ran out after Sarah was basically making her miserable over Hagar now being pregnant. Hagar now sort of being protective and hating Sarah, you know, for this whole setup that's. That's been made. She runs away as a pregnant runaway in chapter 16. But she encountered the angel of the Lord, and the Lord declared, or she declared to the Lord after all of that, thinking that she was all by herself, just her and her. Her. Her unborn child out wandering around. And the God reveals himself at that time. And that's when she says, you are the God who sees me. That word for that Hebrew name of God is El Roi. El Roi. That's the God who sees. And I want to say the God, that same God sees you and I in our situation, you and I are also going to find ourselves in the desert more than once, just like Hagar, and more than once the God who sees us. El Roi will be more than faithful to provide for our deepest need as we cry out to him. Not only that, but this is the God who will give us new vision. He will show us something that we couldn't see before. We're stuck. We're about ready to give up. We're crying out. We're just ready for that book to die and wilt, and our dreams going up in smoke. And I might as well just sit here and right there, right at just the right time, God opens Hagar's eyes to a well of refreshment. And I want to say that maybe that time is this weekend for you. Maybe it's in another month. I don't know. All I know is that God wants to give you new vision. He wants to show you things that maybe you haven't seen. Because our eyes so many times are fixed on our, on our circumstances or on ourselves. And I want you just to cry out and ask the Lord, is there something I'm missing? Would you please reveal it to me? Would you give me new vision? Would you open my eyes to what you want me to see? Show me a well, Lord, out where I'm at. And that's my word for you here this morning.

Yeah, that's so good. And I remember years ago when I was in just a really tough circumstance, and I don't have time to go into it today, but God gave me this visual. And I, I, I just feel like when CJ was talking, God just reminded me about it. And I want to share. Hagar was focused on her circumstances, right? And so many times I, as a human, get focused on myself and my circumstances. Anyone else? If so, just type me.

But if so, you're not alone. It's easy to get focused on the circumstances, whether it's the circumstances of our writing or our marketing or our life, our family, our finances, you know, all of the things. And God, God reminded me of this, that, you know, it's like two hands. Like, go ahead and put both of your hands in front of you, and your left hand is God. Well, actually, let's say right hand. Right. Right hand is God and left hand is our circumstances. Now go ahead and put your left hand in front of your right hand. And now you're, you're looking at God through your circumstances. And it's easy to get a distorted view of God. Like, God, why is this happening to me? Why is my book not coming? Why am I not, you know, selling more books? And it's just so easy to see God then through our circumstances and to have a distorted view of God. Now go ahead and switch Your hands. Now, God is in front of your circumstances, and you're seeing your circumstances through God and, like, you know, able to have gratitude even in the worst of situations and able to have the calm and the peace of God, because we're. We're coming and we're seeing him first. And so I just want to encourage you Kingdom writers that the circumstances will always come. And this last year, God has really grown me and helped me through some, you know, difficult circumstances. And I'm in a different place, I'm happy to say, in 2024 than I was in 2023, but my circumstances haven't really changed. But I have changed. And my. My focus is on God and not myself and my circumstances. And so it's just a really good little visual reminder. Like, is. Is this. Is this out of. You know, are your hands, you know, are they. Do they need to get realigned? And are you seeing God through your circumstances or your circumstances through God? So, cj, why don't you go ahead and pray for all of us?

Father, thank you so much just for this story. In your word of giving Hagar just new eyes to see, new vision, to see something right in front of her that immediately helped her and her son and in their circumstance.

Yeah.

I want to pray, Lord, that you would show each person here that may be struggling, maybe feeling aimless, maybe feeling like they're right there in that desert right now, sitting down, they've kind of put their book in the shade. And I want to ask, Lord, that you would open their eyes to see something a little different, to see something right in front of them that will actually give them what they need in order to move forward, to continue moving forward and.

To be fruitful in their writing, to fulfill the calling that they have on their lives, and that those books, those blog posts.

Any. Any form of writing they're doing would get into the. The right hands at the right time in front of the right people. And, Lord, we're just asking that.

In this last weekend of. Of January, the first month of 2024, I want to pray that each person here, regardless of where they're at, maybe some don't feel like they've been in a desert or wilderness aimlessly wandering around, but I pray that everyone here, regardless, would be given new vision, would be given fresh eyes in this. During this virtual writing retreat, and that it would actually even serve to launch them.

Ahead into the months ahead, and that they would come away and say, wow, I did. I didn't see things from that perspective. Thank you Lord, thank you for giving me that insight. Thank you for giving me a pair of your. Your divine glasses to. To see. And so we just ask this, Lord, and we just trust that you are working in so many incredible ways in each and every one of these lives. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Yeah. And I just want to say, when CJ was praying, God gave me the picture of, like, being in a doctor's office and taking the eye exam. Have you ever done that where you're, you know, the charts over there and you're taking the eye exam? And my mom recently went to the eye doctor and her prescription had changed, and she's like, yeah, I just. It. I realized, like, things were just a little bit not as clear. And I think many times we just need to come to the Lord and say, God, examine my heart, right? And help me. Like, is there anything in me? And that's where I've been in a season of just confession and repentance. And sometimes we just. It's just. And sometimes it's those little tweaks. It's the little things, but they can become big things. And so I encourage you to ask the Lord to. To give you an eye exam, a vision exam, and. And to get, like C.J. said, his prescription for you, his vision for you, so that you can move forward with clarity today.

So how many of you are feeling a little bit more encouraged today as a result of that?

Gives us two thumbs up.

Yeah. Good. Kay says, when I changed my hands around, I felt a calmness, as though God was looking at me. Yes, we can make eye contact with Jesus. And she says, thank you for the illustration and for the eye opener of Genesis 14:16. Yeah. So good. And just so excited for all the momentum that has already started this week. Like, already you're moving forward, and yet the enemy may want to stop you in your tracks and get you into a place where, like, C.J.

Was.

You're sitting in that desert again, and you're like, oh, do I even. You know, you've given birth, you know, to an idea. You know, given birth to a first draft, given birth to even a book. And then you're just like, maybe it's time to give up again. So, you know, wherever you're at, just know that the enemy is or that. That God is with you, and that the enemy is always, you know, trying to steal, kill, and Destroy. Right? John 10:10. But Jesus has come to give us life and life abundantly. And so we want you to. To receive him and to Put your focus back on him, right? To put him. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these things, all the circumstances will fall into place. And so that's what we do here at Christian Book Academy is we help you partner with God as you write, publish and market your books. But also in life. I've had people tell me, shall I have grown more spiritually being part of Christian book academ of me than I have in years? And so, so glad that you're here. We're going to have a time of prayer and CJ and I will have corporate prayer for you, where we will be praying for everyone. And then we will go into breakout rooms. With the breakout rooms, if you are not equipped for that or just not wanting to do that right now, you can stay in the main room. We'll be quiet during that time. But I encourage you to go to the breakout rooms and get to know each other, get connected and be able to pray for each other in that time. But let's go ahead and cj, why don't you just start with some corporate prayer and then we'll transition into some breakout rooms and we'll start Deb. Deb is our virtual writing retreat host, so she'll start you with the writing at the top of the hour. So.

Yeah. So, Father, I do even pray that you would.

Guide us, Lord, this, this.

During this time of. Of prayer.

I pray that each person, even in the breakout rooms, would just be led by your spirit in terms of prayer and, and kind of how you're, how you're leading them. Lord, we just pray that each person here would be able to accomplish what you have in mind and tap into.

The vision that you have for their, their writing. We may have these preconceived ideas of what it's all going to look like, and yet you may have something that is so much better, so much different than what we had imagined. More fruitful, even things that mature us in different ways that maybe wouldn't have happened had we. You know, I just even think of, of Sarah and Abraham, you know, really kind of forcing things by, by having Hagar sleep with Abraham. And we, we jokingly call it creating an ishmael. And we've all been there, we've all created our own ishmaels. And I want to pray, Lord, that.

We would be able to.

See what you want to birth, to do it your way and not force something. If any of us are forcing something in our writing, I pray that we would just pause, lay down the Pen the pencil and open our hands and say, lord, what do you have for me today and tomorrow? So, Lord, we are we, I guess in a way we're surrendering in order to see your dream come true for a writing and to see what you want to birth and how you want to do that. And so we just want to lay this time before you and thank you Lord, for what you're going to do.

Today and tomorrow.

Yes, Father, we just fix our eyes on you on the throne right now, able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we even think or imagine Jesus sitting at the right hand of you and interceding for us even right now, interceding for this writing that we're going to do this weekend. And we just thank you that you've given us Holy Spirit to fill us and to lead us and to guide us as we write. And so we just thank you, Father, for what you're doing and how you're working and moving right now. And I just pray for a fresh anointing on each kingdom. Writer listening right now. A fresh anointing of your Holy Spirit over their writing, publishing and marketing, that over their minds, their hearts, that you would fill them from the tip of their head to the bottom of their toes, Father, that you would help them to crucify the flesh. You know, we can't do it, but you do it through Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross and that we would empty ourselves so that we can filled with you. And that is when the miracles happen. That is when, you know, just so much takes place. And so, Father, thank you for this. Thank you that we have this partnership with you and that anytime we sit down to write, we can connect with you. And the picture God gave me is like, as you're getting ready to start this writing session, it's like you're getting in a boat and you're setting off from the shore. And for some of you, you just feel like you're just making so such a small progress. It's like, can't get anywhere. And you're trying to, to use an OR and you know, get yourself, you know, to the, to the other side or to the next place. And I just sense God is saying to each of you, put up the sale. So raise the sail on your boat and allow the Holy Spirit to be your wind to move you. And whether that's one sentence or one chapter or an entire book, that it is what he has planned for you. And allow the Holy Spirit to move you and give you the progress and the productivity that he has for you today. And so Father, we do pray that you would be the wind in our sails and that you would help each person to accomplish what you have for them today and tomorrow. And we just thank you for this in Jesus powerful name. Amen.

Amen. All right, well, we're going to go into breakout rooms for about 10 minutes so you can pray for each other. So share your specific prayer request for today for your writing and then make sure you have time for everyone to be prayed for. And then we'll be back here in 10 minutes. And so I'm going to open the rooms and we will if we'll be back here in about 10 minutes.

And so we're just so excited to see the community happening even in a deeper level in Christian Book Academy. If you haven't joined a progress pod yet, that's a great opportunity to have peer led accountability and mastermind group. So check that out. But we always are just so glad to connect you to each other. We need each other. We are the body of Christ and we're not meant to be silos. We're meant to be connected just like our body. Right? So I'm so glad that you guys all connected together and how this works is we'll take a break and you'll have some time just to get up and stretch, get some water, do you know, get things organized in about five till our virtual writing retreat host, Deborah Butterfield. Yay, Deb. She will kick kick you off just to set your goal for the first session. And we write together for 50 minutes and then have 10 minutes of a break, checking in for about five minutes and then a five minute stretch and so forth. So, so excited for you And Janetta from Writing Week take make sure you sign up for the special offer for Christian Book Academy. I'll send you that link right now. And so that you get in because progress pods are part of our membership and you have a special offer to join because you signed up. So I'm going to go ahead and message you that link and then I will also message you the link once you get signed up the link to find the progress pods and sign up for that. So and yeah, if you haven't signed up for it, it is really great. Those of you that are in progress pods share in the chat bot box. What are your takeaways from the progress pods? How have they helped you? Let others know that joined yet and that way. Yeah, I just, I just want everyone to be in a, in community if, if that's what you want now some people are just like, I'm just here for, you know, getting this stuff and getting out, and that's fine. But if you want that support and you want that community, then definitely check it out. I'll put the link in for everyone of where to get the information to sign up for progress pods. So awesome. So, cj, why don't you close us for this kickoff session in prayer and then we're gonna hand the baton over to Deb Butterfield.

Father, thank you so much for this time together. I thank you even just for the encouragement that each person has received today in numerous ways, including just the breakout sessions. We just ask, Lord, that again, this would just really.

Set each person off in the the right direction. I pray that you would open our eyes where we have been blinded, give us fresh vision, Lord, for this whole year. And I just pray, Lord, that.

You would reveal things when we need to see them. And we know that you are the source. Everything else is simply a resource. We know that you're the provider, capital P. And that is not just financially, it's. It's also you provide words for the. The things that you want us to write. And so I pray, Lord, that each person would have that clarity, that focus today and tomorrow and that they'd really just be able to see things from your perspective. And we just give you the glory and the honor for what you're going to continue to do. We thank you for all the the new members. We pray, Lord, that they would get off on a great start and be able to truly enjoy this community.

That, that we all have grown to love and cherish and to be.

With like minded people who also feel called to write and publish a book that you've put on their hearts. And so we just give you this time, we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

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.