As I considered Luke writing two incredible letters to his friend Theophilus, I began reflecting on my own writing.
The word “inspiration” gets tossed around by writers all the time. But when we’re thinking about God’s Word being inspired, it’s obvious that sort of inspiration doesn’t exist today.
God’s word is inspired, as it tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16. That “inspiration” literally means God-breathed.
2 Timothy 3:16
The Call to Write
God breathed his Word on the writers of scripture. They had a high calling to transcribe His words.
I believe He’s called me to write, too. I believe He gives me story ideas when I lean into Him and seek to glorify Him with my writing.
That’s not the same as the inspiration the Gospel writer had, but I still like to think that God is inspiring me in the way that inspiration means “something aroused, animated, or imbued with the spirit to do something, by or as if by supernatural or divine influence.”
God has called me to put words on paper. He empowers me to do His will through the Holy Spirit.
Isn’t that the definition of inspiration? I believe so, but I will never say my writing is “inspired by God.” It’s more that God is my source of inspiration when I yield to His plan and leading.
What I’ve Written
I’ve been writing stories since I was nine years old. In my closet, I have a few spiral notebooks that contain some of the fiction and poetry I wrote through middle and high school.
My hard drive has a bunch of novels that I wrote since pursuing publishing in 2013. At one time, I had more than a dozen novellas published with small presses. All of these were romances -sweet or Christian- and I could write them quickly and easily.
But they never called to my heart the way the few young adult fantasy stories and novels I have written do. Nor do I really meet the expectations of romance readers with my stories because I’m more interested in the character’s journey of discovering their truth more then the emotional connection of man and woman.
For a few years, God has laid other stories on my heart, but I could publish the romances easily. So I ignored the other stories and pursued the romances.
I’ve also written a trilogy of biblical fictionalizations, called Reflections. I’m linking to those books. They tell the story of Mary of Nazareth, Martha of Bethany, and Mary of Bethany from a first-person perspective. All of them include Bible study questions and even a teacher’s guide.
At the moment, I’m writing a Christian women’s fiction that is in the vein of Chick Lit that Robin Jones Gunn created years ago with her Sisterchicks novels. People say it isn’t a viable genre these days, so what am I doing writing this story?
The Point of Writing
I’m pouring out the story God laid on my heart.
The purpose of everything I write is to minister to the hearts of readers. Fiction has been called the modern-day parable by my friend Melinda Inman.
My experience as a voracious reader is that books have power.
I believe that my gift to tell stories is from the Lord just as Luke’s gift to write his two letters to Theophilus were from the Lord. No, he doesn’t whisper the words to write, but I believe He compels me to tell these stories.
How has your Bible reading and study caused you to reflect on your “calling” lately?
A Pew Perspective 