#436 Stuck

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 the Kingdom Writers Podcast. My name is Shelli Hitz, one of your hosts. This episode is an excerpt from our virtual writing retreat we host every month inside our membership Christian Book Academy. You can join us with a special coupon code just for podcast listeners and this will get you 50% off your first month. Use the coupon code podcast and this way we can help you take a step of faith and finally finish your book. So go to ChristianBookAcademy.com and enter the Coupon Code Podcast at checkout for 50% off your first month. Come join us at our retreats and all the other things that we offer throughout the month. And I pray that the encouragement from this episode blesses you. Welcome everyone, to the October 2024 virtual writing retreat. We are thrilled that you're here. And I'm Shelly Hits here, my husband cj.

Hello everyone.

And we're going to kick this off. And then Deb Butterfield is our amazing virtual writing retreat host. We're so thankful for you, Deb, and always are praying for you as well. But we are excited to be here with you today. And so cj, why don't you start us off by opening in prayer?

Yeah. Well, Father, we just thank you so much for this day, just a new day to be able to write for your glory. Pray, Lord, that you would guide this virtual writing retreat, that every person would be able to make the progress that.

That you would like them to, whatever that looks like with each person. We just ask that we would all just be in a great place in terms of our writing and our inspiration from you. And we just thank you for this privilege of being able to be Kingdom writers. And so, Lord, have your way today and into tomorrow. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen.

So we are coming towards the end of the year. It's crazy. It's like, how did this happen? But we are excited to be here with you today and each weekend for these virtual writing retreats, we have a theme. And so C.J. is going to share what the theme is and then we're going to give you a couple minutes just to ask the Lord, what does this theme mean for me today? So, cj, why don't you share the theme for this weekend.

Yeah. So the word is stuck. Stuck.

Yeah. So that could mean many things. But we're going to give you just a minute to ask the Lord what does that theme mean for me today? And then if you have a journal, I encourage you write it out or, you know, just spend some time in silence during this minute. One minute. God can do more in one minute than sometimes we can do in a lifetime. Right. So just take this minute and ask the Lord, what does that mean for me today? What are you saying to me about this theme today?

It.

Foreign.

It's been one minute. So go ahead and share with us in the chat box if you feel comfortable. What did God say to you about this theme today? And.

It always is encouraging to hear what you guys are sensing from the Lord and what you're hearing from the Lord as well. And D had already said, wow, just thinking about being stuck the last few days. And sometimes we call those God winks like he sees you. You know, he. It's like those things that come up a little bit more repetitively. So, yeah, that's great, D. And.

Just.

Go ahead and have you guys write what you sense God saying to you in the chat box.

Like Rebecca says, it could have to do with being stuck with not finishing my book. I keep coming up with reasons why it's not the best time to get it out there. For instance, I want my email list to be bigger before I launch, so I procrastinate with finishing it.

Yeah, definitely that. Sure. A lot of us can relate to that, wanting to be further along in whatever process we're in.

Yeah. And we were just. C.J. and I were just talking yesterday how many times as writers we can self sabotage. And this might be something of that for you, Rebecca. So just pray about that and ask Lord to help you move through with Whether you have one person on your email list or 10,000, you know, get the book out, you can keep building your email list. And so that's just a lie from the enemy too, as well. Deborah says our unconscious beliefs can keep us stuck, so we need to seek him for answers when we're stuck. Yeah.

Karen says not action, but mindset. Yeah. Boy, the mindset's so key, isn't it?

Yeah. You can even be taking the actions and still be stuck in your mind.

Tammy says I'm in my own way. I'm the clog slowing the progress. Yeah, we often that happens to all of us.

And Heather says I'm in a place of flow right now. So I didn't think this word applied to me, but the Lord brought to mind. Mind that I am definitely stuck on my message, which is to share the gospel that Jesus saves. Amen to that.

It's a good kind of stuck, right?

Yeah.

It reminds me of that old Lionel Richie song, stuck on you. And if we can be stuck on Jesus, then that's a good place to be right there, isn't it?

Yeah.

Jackie says no matter what I'm stuck on, I'm never stuck when I'm relying on God because. And have him as my focus because he always knows the way forward. Yeah. Partnering with God is key.

Elizabeth says not to get stuck on making every sketch perfect, just to get the ideas down. Facial expression, position and flow from page to page and expanding on the written word with the visual.

Yeah. I think many of us can.

Get into that perfectionistic mentality where if it's not perfect, then we just don't want to. Want to do it, or we throw it out, you know, too soon. So that's. That's a good point right there.

Elizabeth and I always say, you know, a lot of people do get stuck when you're trying to make your first draft your final draft. And even as an artist, I know, like, I would start with a pencil sketch, and then, you know, I would go from there. And so, yeah, start with that first initial sketch as your first draft, and then you can update it from there. Lynn says I'm not stuck unless I don't take the next step God is leading me to take. Yes.

Amen, Christine. Stuck equals stuck because of thinking too much and ugly judgments of your work because you can't stay focused. But know I'm with you.

Yeah. And for those listening to the replay, she.

Capitalized the stuck, the thinking, the ugly, the can't, and the no. So it was like an acronym.

Yeah. That is so neat. That'll preach.

Yeah.

D Says, tearing down strongholds that limit our movement, like chains on a baby elephant that keep the animal stuck as it grows up and it's actually set free. Have you guys seen that where, like, if you chain an elephant when they're a baby, then they. They think they're. They're stuck when actually they're strong enough when they get older to get free, but they. They stay chained.

Yeah. Which one did you leave off on?

D. Great.

So, Claudette, I have a long to do list that needs my attention. I need to pause. Right. And work on my list.

Sometimes we're stuck because it's all just swirling in our head, and we just need to get it out onto paper. I always talk about that. Do a brain dump. Get it onto paper. Just start writing. Get it out. And then you can sometimes just start seeing, like, clarity through the fog. That's what happens to me for sure.

And then Lana says, stuck in limiting beliefs, but with God, all things are possible. Yeah. And Heather said, I sung it in my head when you said that, cj.

Yeah. We're going to be thinking Alana, Richie the rest of the day.

I know. I also thought, wasn't there, like, a commercial? I'm stuck on Band Aid because Band Aid stuck on me. Was it Band Aid?

Oh.

Or was it something else? I don't know. But I'm like, I'm stuck on Jesus because Jesus is stuck on me. That doesn't go as well, but.

That'S funny.

All right, well, it's been great to hear all of yours, and it's just good to know we are not alone. Right. We all have, you know, some of the same things, but whether we're in a flow or whether we're stuck, you know, God is here and we are able to partner with Him. And so I love just hearing all of that.

So in today's training, CJ is going to share with us some encouragement on the theme Stuck. So, cj, why don't you share with us today?

Yeah. So.

This theme really, you know, comes from just looking at the first three verses of Psalm 40. You know, David was somebody that at numerous times in his life, found himself stuck. And this is one of those. And so I want to read the first three verses and then just elaborate a little bit. It says here in verse 1, Psalm 40. I waited patiently for the Lord to help me. And he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. And so.

As I was reading that, you know.

There'S just, I think so much in those three verses, but I wanted to at least give you the definition because.

We'Ve even heard songs that talk about being stuck in the mire, the miry clay. There was a popular worship song years ago. Jesus set my feet upon the rock. Took me out of the miry clay. A mire is an area of wet, spongy earth, like a bog or a marsh. So I Want to ask the question? Have you ever been on a piece of land.

After the snow has melted or after a tremendous downpour of rain that leaves the land extremely muddy? So picture that in your mind. You're in a place where.

The mud was just thick. Your boots or your shoes sink down several inches, and then some of you may even recall being in that position. And then you quickly pull your. Your. Your foot out and your shoe stays in the mud. Has that ever happened to anyone where.

It'S. It's like it's suctioned the shoe down and. And there's so much force right there where, where. Where the shoe gets stuck that your foot comes out. And so, you know, I can recall times even here in Colorado. Now, here in Colorado, we don't necessarily have a ton of that real thick mud like some of the places out east in the eastern United States. It's pretty dry here, but we do have some patches where there's different kinds of dirt that can cake. And sometimes I've been on a run where I'm out on the trail and I'm in an area where with every single step.

I'm picking up more and more mud sticking to the bottom of my shoes to where you get to the point where you actually have to stop and practically stomp your feet to get that mud off, because you've just basically picked up another couple pounds on each foot. It's almost like running with cement shoes.

Something that's heavy, something that just doesn't move you forward like you want to. It's hindering. And I want to say that our lives can sometimes feel like this, where we get stuck or each step forward becomes heavier and heavier. And I know there are some that are in that place right now, some within our. Some of you listening to this right now, whether it's live or on the replay, you're just feeling stuck, like you can't move forward. You've been in this. This. This mire that's holding you back. You're not able to run free, Your footing is unstable. I even think of us a pit where, you know, you just. You can imagine some of the movies that have maybe Indiana Jones or someone finds themselves in this pit where it's slimy. You try to climb up the walls and you just don't get anywhere because every place you touch is slippery. It's just this slick mud or mire that keeps you. Keeps you from moving out of that well. What did David do when he was stuck in this miry clay? How did he climb out of this slimy pit of despair that he found himself. And we read that right in the opening verse. The opening verse says, I waited patiently for the Lord to help me. And what did the Lord do? He turned to me and he heard my cry, and he lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground. And I want to say that the first thing that we have to do when we find ourselves stuck in that pit of despair, we're unable to move forward because of a heaviness, maybe just a number of things weighing us down in life.

I want to suggest. And it's just a simple reminder to all of us that we've got to pause and we've got to wait upon the Lord. We've got to seek him fervently, just as David did. And I don't know how long that waiting will be for each of us. It may vary from person to person. It may be a day, it may be a week, it may be hours before the Lord reaches down and pulls us out of that pit of despair. But waiting is difficult for us because we're naturally all impatient in one way, shape or form. And I think the culture and the world that we live in today, it actually makes us even more impatient because we're used to things happening so quickly. We get that response. We can quickly Google the answer to a question we have, and we get it right there. And it's. It's a beautiful thing, technology, but it can also lend to being very impatient when it comes to leaning on the Lord, waiting upon him, especially when we don't know that maybe he's causing us to wait in order for us to cling and become even more desperate for him in what only he can offer. How many know that the Lord can offer something that the Lord that the world cannot offer? And that's the thing you and I are all waiting for. As Kingdom writers, we know we can. We can blend right in with the world. We can even give a lot of real, simple little answers. We can just keep moving on. We can encourage people. We can give them motivational things that stick.

But we can't give them that thing that requires waiting on the Lord. We have to have those gems, those nuggets that can only come about when we wait upon the Lord. And so when we do that, I believe in time, he will pull us out of that. That slimy pit, so to speak. And so we try with all of our own effort, many times to climb out of that mud and there are some circumstances in life where you literally need somebody else's help. Have you ever gotten your car stuck in the snow? Have you ever gotten your car stuck in a deep mud pit? Could be a mud, a field, and, and you didn't realize the mud was so deep out there. You need help. You call upon people. Maybe there was a, a good Samaritan that came along and, and attached their winch to your vehicle and pulls you out of that snow, that snowbank that you slipped into or that, that field that you found yourself driving off road into. And now, now you found yourself up to your. Halfway up the tires in mud. You just can't get out. You need the help of someone else. But many times, what do we do? We really try first. With every effort that we have, we, we try in our own strength. We don't really want to ask for help. We think we can get ourselves out of it. And how many know that sometimes with snow, by the way, the more you try to get out of that by spinning your wheels, it actually just makes it worse. It just deepens and you fall, you know, further off into the ditch. If you would have just waited and said, you know what, I do need immediate pulling assistance here. Otherwise I'm just going to have both tires on the right side in the ditch and it's going to be a bad situation. We've got to learn to have muscle memory where we call upon the Lord right away we begin to wait and say, I can't get myself out of this, Lord. Or maybe, you know, Heather says she's in a flow, but maybe some of us are just like, man, I haven't had a flow in weeks. But what are we willing to do in order to have the Lord restore that flow to help us get unstuck? Like with David, I believe God will hear our cries for help and he will pull us out of the deep despair or the situation we find ourselves in. We can go from stuck to steady as he places us on firm, solid footing. And I want to say this, this is all God's grace. This is all of God's grace. And when we find ourselves in that flow, when we find ourselves on that steady ground where we're able to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Think about a smooth paved road. Cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. It's a great place to be when you're able just to move down the highway and you're not stuck, you're able to move. And I want to Say that this is all. And we need to be mindful of this, of giving God thanks for those grace times where we're flowing in our writing, in our. In the spirit, where we're really able to move forward with what he's called us to. And I want to say that after that I believe a new song will arise in our hearts, just like with David, a new song to sing. And we could equate this as kingdom writers to perhaps God is able to birth a new book from our lives, new words to share with the world that's waiting to hear it. You might even call it a volume of praise to our God. A volume of praise. What is God putting in your heart as a result of what he's done in your life, pulling you out of that pit of despair, helping you become unstuck. And now it's creating a new song in you that's going to flow in words, words in a book, words in a message that you share with someone.

And just like David said at the end of that, that verse three, perhaps many will be amazed and put their trust in the Lord. Isn't this the goal? I've had some great coffee chats with some people here this week, and it seems like with each one, each person wanted to write a story that glorified what the Lord was doing in their lives through trials or perhaps what the Lord was teaching them. And isn't this what we want? We want out of what God's delivered us from, for those stories to now touch other people in the world so that they give praise to that same God that pulled us out of that miry pit. So I want to encourage you, each one of us.

At different times in our lives are going to find ourselves stuck. And that may be in varying degrees. Each person is different with what we're going through. But that same God that pulled David out of that pit of despair.

Helped him go from stuck to steady, can also help us as well. Wherever you're at today. So I want to encourage you as you go through this weekend, this Friday and Saturday of the virtual writing retreat, that.

You may even find yourself gradually being pulled from that, that mire that you've. You've kind of felt your. Yourself spinning your wheels as, as Heather says here. Isn't that so true? That's where that comes from. You know, we spin our wheels, spin our wheels, spin our wheels. Then we kind of just finally stop. Imagine yourself being in a car where you're stuck and you've been trying this now for 20 minutes, just spinning and you realize nothing's happening here. In fact, I feel even deeper than I was. So what do we do? A wise person will say, okay, I'm going to pause.

Get my head.

Become rational, realize I'm not getting anywhere.

Take the phone and call the first person that you know can get you some help. In our case, though, we call upon our Lord, we wait upon him, knowing he has the answer to a stuck heart, to a stuck mind, to whatever we're going through. And so that's key is being able to call for help. So just like David, let's wait upon the Lord even as we're going through these next two days of the virtual writing retreat.

Yeah, that's so good. And it reminds me, CJ and I were missionaries in the country of Belize, Central America, for two years. I don't know if all of you know that. So CJ did youth ministry and did a whole lot of different things. He was actually a radio host for a while and also spoken a lot of Christian schools. But I did physical therapy because I was still a licensed physical therapist at that time. And I worked with children with disabilities. We would go to their homes in the villages, and the, the missionary we were connected with let me borrow his truck and he was out of the country. And normally I was myself and my assistant that I was training, the Belizean Yasmini that I was training. We would take the bus and then we would walk everywhere because we only had one car and CJ Needed it to travel all over the country for what he was doing with his speaking. And so it was such a privilege to be able to use his truck. But we were in a village and it was rainy season, and guess what happened?

I got stuck. And it was like, I just kept trying and trying and trying, and it was like digging myself in further. And I think this was like, you know, 20 years ago. But I think what happened was somebody came by and I was like, you know, talking to them and they're like, oh, this truck has four wheel drive.

I didn't even know, like, there was a special setting. I had no idea. I never had a car with four wheel drive. I didn't know what I was doing. I just clicked a button or did something, whatever you had to do to put it in four wheel drive. And guess what happened? I got right out and all it took was one little thing. And I think sometimes we are just trying and trying and we're digging ourselves into these holes and, oh, I can't get anywhere, and my book and this and that. And whether it's writing or it's marketing, and sometimes we just need to stop. Like CJ Said, ask the Lord. And there might just be one God idea that just takes off, right?

And, you know, there's only one thing worse than being stuck, and that's being stuck when you're driving somebody else's car.

Yes. I felt horrible. I was like, oh, my goodness, I've borrowed his car. Now.

You know, what.

What's gonna happen? And so anyways, that I felt like the Lord said instantly, though, shelly, this is an example, an illustration of how I can help you, you know? And so I just thought I wanted to share that after CJ had this theme. So, cj, why don't you pray for all of us and anyone who is feeling stuck, whether, you know, you are or aren't, we all have those seasons. And so just pray, um, whether, you know, it's something emotionally, spiritually, otherwise. Like, recently, I had this conflict with a neighbor, and it brought some things up in me that I realized, like, I was stuck with some emotional stuff from the past that I hadn't fully dealt with. It was another layer. You know, God heals us in layers. And I was able last week to spend a lot of time with the Lord in prayer, and I felt like I got unstuck in some things. And, you know, it's just. It's good to know that whether it's in our. Our writing, emotional, spiritual or whatever, that God is able to help us to move forward. So why don't you pray for us, cj?

Yeah. Father, we thank you so much for these glimpses of how others just like us.

Went from being stuck in mire and muck and whatever it may be that. That held them back. We. We serve the same God that's able to help us get out of our. Our being stuck as well, whatever that is. Maybe some of us have found ourselves being stuck from a mindset point of view. We're limited by just the same spiraling thoughts in our minds, and it just seems like we get those spinning thoughts that actually dig us deeper and deeper. So I want to pray, Lord, that you bring freedom. I want to pray that you would help each one of us.

Become unstuck from the things that tend to hold us down or keep us from moving forward. Every person is just a little different, what they're dealing with right now, and yet none of it is minimized because in our own eyes, that thing is very big.

And, Lord, we. We know that you can pull us right out. And there are some times where we we may be there and, and, and it's for a very particular purpose that, that you're wanting us to really cry out to you and cling to you and grab on to your hand and to wait upon you. And so Lord, I pray that each person here would be able to get into a flow, would be able to be put on steady ground and really just give you the glory and the honor, just like David did. And that others would praise you as a result of hearing that story because it gives them hope as well to trust in that same God. So we thank you Lord, for what you want to do today into tomorrow. And we are going to give you the glory for every ounce of progress we can make. Because we do know it is your grace that pulls us out of these places in life. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Would you like More? If you are enjoying this podcast but want more, I have something exciting to share with you. We have released what's called a private podcast. So a private podcast you will not find by searching in Apple. You have to know specifically how to subscribe to it. It's more private and exclusive and it just can be more relaxed behind the scenes. And my new private podcast is called Hits Blitz and it's wisdom for writers that you're going to learn from my 18 plus years of experience experience in publishing and online marketing so that you can move forward in God's call to write. I am best known for injecting energy and enthusiasm into everything I do and inspiring those around me to take action. So I encourage you to listen in to this exclusive private podcast. It is free, 100% free. You don't have to pay for it and be prepared to be inspired by my next Hits Blitz. So you can sign up@trainingauthors.com forward/hits blitz and if you have any other writing friends that you think could benefit from it, definitely share it with them. They can go to the same link trainingauthors.com hits blitz to get access. Again, this is a private podcast so you cannot get access to it any other way. It's completely free. All you have to do is sign up and then you'll get all the information on how to add it to your podcast player of choice. So I can't wait for you to join me over there. I share a lot of things behind the scenes and more content just in a real time basis. So it's more like chatting with a friend or following someone on stories on social media. Except you don't have to get caught up in any of the algorithms. You'll just have this in your podcast player and be able to listen in wherever you're at, whatever you're doing. Some of the listeners told me this week that they were listening while waiting in the Target parking lot while brushing their teeth. You can fit this into the pockets of time that you have, so I hope you'll join me. Come over to trainingauthors.com hitsblitz if you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book, we have a few ways we can help you. First of all, you can join our free Free Writing Week challenge to create a writing habit in just 15 minutes a day. Thousands of writers have taken this over the years and it is incredible the progress that you'll see. So join us@writingweek.com and again, this is completely free. Inside our Book Writing Lab workshop, you can choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90 minutes so you'll finally feel confident that you'll actually finish your book. Get started@bookwritinglab.com and finally, you can get more support and personalized feedback from myself and our team by joining Christian Book Academy. Because the honest truth is most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. But inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. So finally, ditch your self doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian book academy@christianbookacademy.com and get 50% off your first month by using the Coupon code Podcast at checkout there's a special coupon code for our podcast listeners. We love you. So come over to ChristianBookAcademy.com, use the coupon code podcast and we look forward to working closely with you.

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