Write with Confidence
I’m a procrastinator at heart. I put things off even when it would be much easier to just do it. Nowhere is this more evident than in my writing life. When it’s time to sit at my desk and write, I check my e-mail, peruse Facebook, or suddenly feel the urge to wash dishes.
Proverbs 14:23 says, “ Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty.” Procrastinating is a form of mere talk. We tell ourselves we will do it later. And at the time it feels like an easy out. However, as time passes our mere talk leads to a feeling of inadequacy. This can be especially dangerous to writers. The more we put off writing the less qualified we feel. There are many people who have a great idea for a book, but never write down one word. There are others who start a story, but don’t ever finish it. Then there are those of us (myself included) who have completed pieces, but don’t take the next step. We put it off because it’s not quite right or we fear rejection (my personal favorite).
It’s all a form of procrastination and it leads to a poverty of spirit. We lose the power we need to achieve our goals. To move beyond this we have to step outside of our comfort zone. Action brings value to our lives and confidence in our abilities. It creates a sense of satisfaction, especially when we accomplish the work God has set before us. But often doing that work means we have to take a leap of faith, trusting God rather than relying on our own understanding.
Writing this blog is a leap of faith for me. I have attempted to start a blog two times before. I signed up with blog spot. I agonized about which theme to use. I even wrote a first blog for each. But in both instances I put off unveiling the blog to the public. I told myself it wasn’t ready yet. And while that may have been true, the real problem was fear. I was afraid of rejections. What would people think? What if it isn’t good enough? What if no one read it? But none of that matters because I know this is something that I am supposed to do. The longer I put it off the more I doubt myself.
We face certainty anytime we step out of our comfort zone, but we can’t allow fear to control us. We have to feel the fear and do it anyway, knowing that we are not alone. When we put our trust in the Lord, we can write with confidence.
