Help for Writer’s Block

Help for Writer’s Block

by Maureen Miller

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known”

(Jeremiah 33:3, ESV).

 

There are times my mind feels as empty as the blank screen or page before me. Though I hold in my heart the call to write God’s messages, sometimes I can only manage to grasp a pen or hover my fingers over a keyboard. I wait, but nothing comes forth. Not a single word.

Perhaps I’ve forgotten something. In my eagerness to weave life-changing words, did I begin by asking, “What is it you would have me write, Father? What’s the message upon your heart?” Have I called upon him, believing his promise to answer me?

I recently read a reflection from John Baillie’s classic, A Diary of Private Prayer. The fifth meditation reminds us that God always has been and always will be. He never failed our ancestors, and he won’t fall short on our behalf now.

But we have a part to play, just like the patriarchs, the prophets, the psalmists, the apostles, and the martyrs. Yes, even this poor soul who now holds her pen, waiting for words to come.

As with the ancients, my calling as a Christian writer requires action to achieve results. And as Baillie so beautifully and wisely writes, we, too, must trust in the Lord; seek the Lord; rejoice in the Lord; wait upon the Lord; and call upon the name of the Lord.

The ensuing outcome? As believers—particularly for us as Christian writers—we won’t be put to shame; God will put his words upon our lips; he’ll be present in our songs; we’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit. He’ll be with us, even in flames of persecution.

We can call upon the name of the Lord with confidence, asking him, “What shall I write, for your glory and the good of others?” God will save us from every trouble.

Yes, even from the trouble of writer’s block.

 

Everlasting Author, remind us quickly, lest we waste precious time, to call upon you and believe you will answer us and share with us those hidden things you’d have us write—for your glory and the good of our readers. Amen.

 

Maureen Miller lives on Selah Farm, a hobby homestead nestled in the mountains of western North Carolina. She and her family raise a variety of animals, vegetables, and flowers. She asks daily to have eyes and ears wide open that she might experience the wonders of God’s Word and His created world, and she blogs regularly about such at www.penningpansies.com.