#443 Overcoming Impossible

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.

Welcome to the Kingdom Writers Podcast. My name is Shelly 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. Today's training and encouragement that CJ has for you is really something I think that we all can be reminded of all the time. The theme is overcoming impossible in the flesh, in our own strength. There are so many things that we face and especially as Kingdom writers, that feel impossible. Cj, why don't you share with us your encouragement today?

Yeah, so I wanted to share just a few nuggets in some of my reading of Nehemiah. How many of you have have looked through that book in the Old Testament here recently? If, if you have, it's just such, it's one of, really one of my favorites. There's so much that we can apply to our own lives and of course the central theme of that book.

Of rebuilding a broken down wall that serves to protect the city of Jerusalem, God's city. And so I wanted to just start off by reading a few verses. You know, Nehemiah finds himself with a burden on his heart to lead a team to help rebuild that wall. Gets permission from his king where he's captive at the time, serving as the king's cup bearer in what we would see as modern day Iran, which is about 13, 1400 miles from where Jerusalem was. And so he needed permission to take leave and head over there and evaluate what was going on with this wall. He had gotten a bad report, things weren't good. He's got to see for himself and he's a man that's going to take action. And so it says here in Nehemiah chapter 2, starting in verse 12. He's kind of doing a little scouting report here. He says, I slipped out during the night, taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem. We took no pack animals with us except the donkey I was riding. After dark, I went through the Valley Gate.

Past the Jackals well and over to the Dung Gate to inspect the broken walls and burned gates. Then I went to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but my donkey couldn't get through the rubble.

You know, that should give you a little picture right there of how badly the situation was that even his donkey couldn't make it through the piles of rubble that were staring them in the face. How many of us at times feel like we have these piles of rubble ahead of us and it just seems impossible. It seems like, where do I start? Which stone do I actually move first?

It just feels daunting. It feels overwhelming. I can just imagine, as Nehemiah was doing that scouting trip that he thought to himself, okay, where are we going to start here? This is just even worse than I thought. And so in chapter two.

I love this.

Chapter two, Chapter three.

Is. Is really all about.

The people that decided they're going to jump in and they're going to take a section of the wall. And if you go through.

And you look through all of. There's one of the chapters, I think it's. Chapter three is just basically a list of all of the people that took a section of the wall and started.

To repair. They just started where they were at. And I went back through. I thought how many groups of people were there that were listed? And I counted 43 groups of people that jumped in right where they were basically with a lot of families. It was right the. The sectional wall right in front of where they lived with some. It was Levites that were coming in to do some work from where they lived outside of.

These gates, perhaps. But 43 different groups who took responsibility for a section of the wall, and it all starts and finishes at the Sheep Gate. It's like this big circle where it started. You read in the first verse of chapter three and the last verse, it's like it came full circle in terms of the people that helped. Now you need to realize that this was two and a half miles of wall, which translates to 13,200ft of wall in this. This rebuilding effort. And the people who jumped in to help came from a variety of trades. I find this so interesting. You read in there about the Levites who were serving as. As. As workers for the Lord in the temple. You find that there were perfume makers that jumped in. You find that there were other types of people that came from different backgrounds. It didn't matter. They had a common purpose, and that was to help rebuild what had been broken down, a common goal. Again, to rebuild that part in front of them that they could directly impact. And it just reminds me of you and I. It reminds me that we all here come from different backgrounds. We may also have different experiences outside of our writing, different vocations that we've taken part in. Some of us could say that we've had three, four, five vocations in our lifetimes. We've moved from different things, but writing unites every single one of us. That's why we're here. And as Kingdom writers, we are in a small way rebuilding a section of the wall, so to speak. We are building something, writing something that's geared to encourage, that's geared to help protect, that's geared to be used by the Lord from wherever we come from in. Even despite the backgrounds that we have now. We can't read a story, a good story, without some conflict in there, can we? There's always going to be some antagonists. There's always going to be an enemy. And in this case with Nehemiah, it was no different. We need to expect opposition as we undertake a great work for the Lord. And I want to read you a few verses in chapter four because we do come across some opposition. It says, San Blot, who was one of the enemies to the Jewish people. San Blot was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, saying in front of his friends and the Sumerian army officers.

What does this bunch of poor feeble Jews think they're doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap, and charred ones at that?

Tobiah, the Ammonite, another enemy who was standing beside him, remarked that stone wall would collapse even if a fox walked along top of it.

And so you and I, too are writing from a place where we have to dig through rubble.

We may even feel like in many parts of our lives, we've got a lot of charred stones. We're wondering if those can even be salvaged again from our lives to be used in the rebuilding effort. And we have this enemy that taunts us day and night, this enemy that Says, who do you think you are? Do you actually think you can write a book that's actually going to be encouraging to others?

And you can just sense the taunts here? And Tobiah, you know, this Ammonite says even that stone wall would collapse even if a fox walked on top of it. In other words, what you're building is so fragile, it's not even going to last. And we get these taunts of the enemy. Who are you as, as a kingdom writer? Who do you think you are with your background and your history and the ways you've messed up? And, you know, we, like Nehemiah, can respond by just simply praying to the Lord. He says, hear their taunts, Lord. Hear their taunts. We give all of that to you, Lord. You deal with them however you desire. But as for me, as for all of these people, Nehemiah had made up his mind. We're going to continue the work regardless of the taunts, and you and I. And raise your hand if you've already experienced opposition in that book project that you're beginning to work on. And I want to say that if you haven't received that resistance, then I wonder if it's something the enemy is really, truly worried about. But every single one of us feel it. We feel that resistance. We feel the taunts. We feel the temptation to stop. So we've got opposition, but we also need to expect fatigue. And we're not just talking opposition from the enemy. We're talking legitimate fatigue in our own lives. You know, Heather mentioned that there's just been one thing after another that seems to prevent her from getting into a writing groove. So that's one that might be a distraction kind of problem. But any one of us could could give a number of reasons for why our writing hasn't been consistent. And one of those may be some fatigue from other life circumstances. I heard one person say that.

Lately they feel like they've been lifed quite often. You know, life, when life happens, when life gets in the way, so to speak, of our writing. And it says in Nehemiah, chapter 4, verse 10. Then the people of Judah began to complain.

The workers are getting tired and there's so much rubble to be removed, we'll never be able to build the wall by ourselves. You can just hear the complaining. You can hear the people looking at the daunting work ahead of them. These piles of rubble.

That not even Nehemiah's donkey could get through when he did the scouting report. But imagine the people as they begin to work. They've been convinced, okay, we're going to do this together. We're going to come together and rebuild this wal. Many know that we can have these great intentions, but when we actually begin to remove that first heavy boulder, that first heavy stone.

We'Re reminded, oh, this isn't going to happen overnight. This isn't going to be a quick thing. This isn't going to be something that I can do by myself by any stretch. This is going to take some blood, sweat and tears that I would submit that writing a book is just as fatiguing, just as difficult as these people rebuilding this wall. It's just a different kind of fatigue, and every one of us have experienced it. But we also need to expect to finish with God's help.

We need to be able to expect that finish. There is a finish line, and it says here, in the case of this finish line of the wall, Nehemiah, chapter 6, verses 15 and 16. So on October 2, the wall was finished just 52 days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. That's the key right there. Do you realize that this project should have taken 10 years, not 52 days, 10 years. There have been architects, builders, who will tell you, based on the help that was there, that this project should have been 10 years of rebuilding. And yet there was such organization by Nehemiah. Do you realize that there were even times, and we won't go through all the details, but there were times throughout this project when half the people were actually doing the work and half the people were on guard duty for the enemies, looking out for those who might come and swoop down on them and kill off the workers. And so there was this need for protection.

And so again, what should have taken 10 years was completed in a mere 52 days. And I want to say this, and this is a nice little formula that we might be able to remember. Hard work, that's one part of the equation. By the people. Hard work by the people plus God's divine protection and empowerment equals a victory every time. Every single time. If you and I are willing to put our butts in chairs and we jokingly say that get your butt in the chair and get to work. When you and I will do that, in combination with God's empowerment, his divine protection, his giving us the aha ideas, the inspiration that we wouldn't have come up with on our own, but if we'll put our effort forth and then God does his part. There's a victory every time. Your book's going to get finished, your article is going to get finished. You may be sitting there and saying, oh my goodness, how am I going to do this 1500 word article that I've been commissioned to write.

Starting from scratch? Well, you're going to be able to do it with God's empowerment. You sit before the Lord, you do the scouting report, you look at what's ahead of you. You admit there's work ahead, but you realize that with your God, anything is possible.

There is power in a spirit led community of believers, in our case, Kingdom writers.

Coming together to rebuild what the enemy has broken down. How many know that there's rubble all around us, not just in our own lives, but all around us? We encounter rubble, we encounter charred stones, we encounter something that just looks impossible in our society. And yet we know that God can use our writing, he can use our lives to, to help rebuild walls in the sections where we're at, right in front of us, where we live, where we find ourselves in the world, our little online corner, whatever that may be that you have an impact on. You have direct touch. God can use your writing to help rebuild what's been broken down. And I want to submit to you, Kingdom Writer, that this is how we overcome impossible. We do it by working hard.

Being somewhat organized. We look at Nehemiah and his principles and we say, wow, this was a man who was organized. He understood what needed to happen, he put the right people in place and they set about doing their work. There was opposition, there was fatigue.

There was a need for extra protection for some of those workers to step down and begin to protect. How many know that sometimes you may not be directly writing, but you're praying for someone else's writing? That's a form of protection. That's a form of you standing guard with that sword in one hand and a trowel in the other. You're sitting there and you're looking around and, and you're like, this is a season where I'm going to be praying for several of my fellow Kingdom writers. But then there's other times when you're going to be doing the direct work of having your rear end in the chair. Blood, sweat and tears, laboring over words being strung together. And yet something is being built one word at a time, one brick at a time. And pretty soon you look back on it and you're like, oh my God. Goodness, how in the world did this get finished? Some of you are There right now, you're like, how did I do it? When I started this, it seemed impossible. And yet with God's help and with the help of other community members here, you've been encouraged and you have had the ability to press on and finish what God's called you to do. You know, one final thing that I want to point out, when you read that long list of people that helped, helped out, and some are named and some aren't.

But I just believe DMI wanted to give respect where respect was due. He wanted to give honor. And he mentioned some of these people. And this is the 43 groups. Do you know, I wonder if someone started to get to work on their section of the wall and their neighbor looked over and then they looked at their own section and said, I better get to work on my own section. So. And so eliashib is working on theirs, and, boy, they've really brought in a crew.

They've inspired me, and I want to get to work on the sectional wall that I have right in front of me. And every single one of us, I believe, can help inspire the person next to us, whether it's somebody in this community or maybe it's somebody in your church or in your neighborhood or in a coffee shop. Somebody pulls up to you and they see your computer, they see some notes, and they just say, man, this person got to be working on something. And a conversation starts and you say, yeah, I've been working on this book. And they say, man, you know, I've had an interest in writing. And they see you and it inspires them to begin working on the project wherever they're at. So I would submit that you working on your writing is also going to inspire people right next to you in your own sphere of influence. And so let's continue in that same spirit that we read in Nehemiah to begin overcoming impossible with God's help and the help of our fellow community members. Because as someone said, here with God, all things are possible, including this rebuilding effort of the kingdom of God through our writing.

Yeah, this is so good. And how many of you would say you have been trying and working on or planning or thinking about your book for years? How many of you would say, that's true of you, Nehemiah, when he started to work on this project, like CJ had mentioned in the research, you know, experts say it should have taken 10 years, and he got it done in 52 days. That's supernatural productivity. Now, some of us, it will take us years. And that's God's pace for us, go at the pace of God's grace. But sometimes the enemy is just trying to stop us and stall us in all the things. And I remember when Tanisia Mitchell joined Christian Book Academy, she'd been trying to work on her book for five years. And after she joined, she said she finished it within three months. And I want that for all of you to see what God will do when you partner with him. And one of the things she said was her success is meeting regularly with God, in business meetings with God. How many of you are doing that on at least a weekly basis? At least some of you are doing it daily. But she, she was like, that was one of the keys for me to finish in three months, joining Christian Book Academy, getting the step by step. She. She needed that too. But God is able. You know, CJ Was saying hard work. So we do need to get the button share. We do need to, you know, watch videos or learn how to do some of these things. But with God and when he is involved, that will bring success every time. That will bring you across the finish line. And those 43 groups of people helping to rebuild the wall with Nehemiah, they weren't Masons. They weren't trained to rebuild a wall. They were doing all sorts of other things. And how many of you have never been trained in writing? You don't have an English degree. You don't have the qualifications. But God's like, here's Tammy, here's your part of the wall. Barbara, here's your part of the wall. Deb, here's your part of the wall. Lynn, Heather, he's calling you kingdom writers. Even without any prior training or qualifications. Neither CJ Or I have English degrees. We aren't qualified. And we've written and published over 70 books at this point. We have now had our academy 10 years. We've helped thousands of writers to take a step of faith and finish their books. But we're not qualified. But you know what? God loves using people like us. He loved using those 43 groups of people to help build that wall because he gets the glory. So be careful to give him all the glory as you finish that. That line, as you finish and cross that line as you finish your book, let people know it's because of God. I was meeting with God every week. He would give me God ideas for my book. He would give me inspiration. He would connect me with the right people. He got me in Christian Book Academy. I didn't even know it existed until a friend told me or I Saw it on Facebook or something, God did it. And I want to see that for each of you this year, that supernatural productivity. So, cj, why don't you pray for all of us?

Father, we thank you so much for the things that we see in Nehemiah that really in so many ways reflect our own lives.

Many of us here have felt the opposition, the fatigue. Yeah, we look around and we. We do see some charred stones. We do see some rubble. We wonder how it's all going to come together, be reorganized. And I yet I want to pray, Lord, that each of us would actually be able to utilize the charred stones of our lives as testimonies that you would put polish to and use for your glory and your honor. I want to pray, Lord, that each person here would be able to move forward, regardless of where they're at currently, whatever they're staring at in terms of a daunting work. I want to pray, Lord, that you would open our eyes to what's possible with you, Lord. And I also want to pray that we would be motivated to sit down and persevere.

To know that, you know, what there, there is going to have to take some blood, sweat and tears on our parts. And yet we also serve a God that can help us accomplish something in a much smaller time than we would have ever imagined. So, Lord, each of us brings something a little different here today. But I pray that every single one of us would look back and see how you helped us through that. You gave us the victory that you allowed us to, with your help, accomplish something that we just at one time thought, there's just no way. And I look forward, Lord, to seeing these testimonies come forth. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. 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 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 that 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 on over to ChristianBookAcademy.com use the coupon code podcast and we look forward to working closely with you. 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. 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 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 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 training authors.com forward/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 hitsblit.

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

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