Are You Filled and Skilled as a Writer?

What has God called you to do in your writing? What is your current assignment in this season? Are you filled and skilled to do this task?

In this blog post, I share an inspiring message of what it means to be filled and skilled for the task that God has set before you.

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Are You Filled and Skilled?

I recently heard this from one of my art mentors Matt Tommy. He was talking about being filled and skilled as an artist.

I have been reading through the Bible through a one-year plan. I recently finished Exodus, in the middle of Leviticus now, and I came across the passages where it talks about this.

I thought it would be really encouraging to share some of this with you as writers as well.

In Exodus 31 it’s talking about building a tabernacle. It’s when the Israelites were still in the desert.

Exodus 31: 1-5

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!

So, here it talks about God when he had specifically chosen Bezalel for the purpose of helping to build the tabernacle.

You have to know that God has a specific calling on your life as well. He has something very specific for you – a very specific assignment.

So, when we come to God, it’s not just about bringing our agendas to God but asking God for what His agenda is for us. We should ask Him what His assignment is for us and then we should walk in that assignment.

So, he has a very specific assignment for you.

It may not be creating things for a tabernacle, probably won’t be, but I thought this was a great example of how God has a specific calling on your life. You have a specific assignment, and many times there are seasons to that assignment.

Know Your Seasons

There are seasons. We may have assignments that are just for a specific season.

When I wrote my book Broken Crayons Still Color that was a season, and it was a tough season. It was five months where I really felt depressed and loaded down by a spiritual attack.

Broken Crayons Still Color was one of the hardest books I have ever written. I actually put it off for a year. That book was recently featured in a subscription box company, and they sent me a link to someone who had opened the box.

They already went through part of my book, and they were sharing how they had tears and God was bringing up things from their past they had never dealt with before. They shared how it was doing new things, and healing, just through my obedience in writing that book.

That was a season of writing the book, and it was an assignment I really, truly believe was from God. It was not my idea and even the book title was not my idea – everything was just God. Have you ever had an experience like that?

Sometimes it may not be quite that obvious, but there are very specific assignments and very specific seasons He has for us.

Filled in the Spirit of God

Then, it says, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God”.

We want to be filled with the Spirit of God when we’re writing. I don’t want to be writing on my own strength. I don’t want it to be the words of Shelley going out in these books.

I’m not perfect and I’m sure that I have written books just out of sheer will and pushing through because I tend to struggle at times with workaholism. But God is really healing me of that, setting me free from it, and reminding me that it is so important that we are filled with the Spirit.

Exodus says, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of craft.”

So, ask the Lord, right now, to fill you with His Spirit so that you can have wisdom, ability, and expertise in the writing that He has called you to do.

There are people your books will reach that my books will never reach. Can I get an amen for that?

There are people your books will reach that my books could never reach. There are people, right now, waiting for your book. They are waiting for the message you’re going to share in your book, right now!

It’s not a thing of shame like, “Oh, you’re not doing it!” No! It’s an excitement!

Have you ever been in a play, band, or choir, and you’re getting ready to do a performance and peek behind the curtain?

I did that all the time in plays and musicals growing up. When you peek behind the curtain, you see a full room, standing room only, and it’s like, “Yes!” It’s so exciting!

It gives you that burst of adrenaline and energy, and that’s what I want you to think of this as. It’s as if there is this auditorium, this audience, that’s waiting for what you have to share in your book.

It’s an exciting thing.

Ask God to fill you with His Spirit so that you can have that wisdom of knowing what to write, what not to write, what to edit, what to get rid of, what to keep, and all of that.

Improving Your Craft

It says in verse 5, “He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!”

What I want to say about this is that it is important to continue improving our craft. It is good to continue learning.

I have an entire online academy in Author Audience Academy. It’s like a school for you where you can continue learning and developing your craft as a writer, a publisher, in publishing your books, and in marketing.

So, it’s important to be skilled too.

When I shared my Book Writing Formulas webinar I shared about how you typically want to think about choosing topics to write about that you have experience in and passion in.

So, think about those areas and where do you want to be skilled. Where are some of those skills lacking, and where can you continue to grow as a writer and as a publisher? (If you self-publish books you’re a publisher.)

I just realized the other day that I have ten years – a decade – of experience in publishing books.

I published my very first book in 2008 and I’m like, “Oh yeah, it’s 2018.” How exciting!

God has skilled me in publishing. I have written and published over 40 books with our publishing company.

I’ve managed and have been in charge of over 50 books. So, I have skills in this and I’m sharing those skills and those things with you in Author Audience Academy.

Where is it that you’re skilled? Are you operating out of your own strength, or are you filled with the Spirit?

A Very Specific Plan

To close today, I just wanted to share that at the end of Exodus, this is Exodus 40, I was so encouraged.

All throughout, it kept saying, “Moses proceeded to do everything just as the Lord had commanded him.” God was very specific.

If you are struggling with what to write in your book, or if you are struggling with how to market your book, ask God. He wants to give you specifics.

I just recently asked him about some marketing things for Author Audience Academy in listening prayer, being sensitive to the Spirit. He just gave me this whole plan; tomorrow’s webinar is part of it.

God gave me a very specific plan, and God gave Moses a very specific plan in the Tabernacle. It kept saying “just as the Lord commanded him.”

Then, in Exodus 40 – this is what I want you to hear, and this got me really excited when I was reading it the other day. At the end of verse 33, it says, “So at last Moses finished the work.”

I always talk about how I want to help you cross that finish line with your book. I want you to finish writing it, publishing it, to market it, and just to cross that finish line.

It says, “So at last Moses finished the work.”

Do you want to finish the work God has called you to in this season? Do you want to accomplish the assignment God has given you in this season – the book God has called you to write in this season?

A Privilege not a Pressure

This is a privilege, not a pressure. It’s a privilege.

What I was feeling the other day was this pressure, with all that God has given to me. If you’re faithful in little He will allow you to be ruler over much – it’s the parable of the talents.

I started on my marketing 2004, is that 14 years ago? I’ve been faithful with the little that God has put in my hand, and He’s given me more and more.

Sometimes the responsibility can feel almost so heavy, like a pressure.

I was telling my husband this the other day and he was praying for me. My husband is such a big part of this ministry and this business because he is the foundation, the umbrella, and the prayer support.

He was praying for me the other day and he was praying that instead of feeling that pressure I would see it as a privilege. I want to say the same thing to you today.

If you are feeling any pressure, that is not from the Lord, it is from the enemy. Ask the Lord to change your mind and see it as a privilege to be a voice for the Lord in this generation, for such a time as this.

I know the Lord has good plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you – plans to give you a future and a hope.

We just need to believe it and we need to walk forward in the assignment that God has given us. We need to do just as the Lord has shown us, just as He has commanded us, and just as He has given us to do.

Was it easy for me to write my book Broken Crayons Still Color? Absolutely not! I want to say it was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life.

When I got that testimony today, and she’s on video sharing amazing things that God is already doing in her life, just through the introduction, I was blown away. If it was only for her, it was worth it.

Now, there are thousands of other people that have purchased that book, and that is reading it. I don’t hear all the stories as we often don’t hear as authors.

It’s a lonely work. But I want to tell you, it is worth it to walk in the assignment that God has given to you, being filled with the Holy Spirit. You don’t want to do it on your own strength. The enemy will eat you alive so do it filled with the Spirit.

How Does God Want You to Continue?

Ask the Lord how it is He wants to continue to give you skills for what He has called you to do. He has called you for just a time as this.

That’s what Esther said, “I’m here and in the palace for just a time as this.” She was placed in that position, in that place, for her assignment at that moment in time.

What is it that God is calling you to do right now?

Where is your assignment?

Where is it that He is calling you to be?

What is it that He has called you to do?

I want that more than anything for you. I want to see breakthroughs and see you overcome the obstacles so that you can walk in freedom.

I want to see you walk in the assignment God has given you so that you will receive testimonies as I received today.  I want you to see life-changing breakthroughs in people’s lives that are happening because you finished the work.

Exodus 40:33.

So at last Moses finished the work.

He crossed the finish line.

The Prayer

Let me pray for you.

“God, I just pray, right now, for every writer, every author reading this blog post. I pray for every author that is listening on my podcast or watching it on my YouTube channel or reading the transcript on my blog.

I pray, right now, God, that you would speak to them in their spirit, they would sense Your Holy Spirit speaking to them on what their assignment is right now, in this season, what is it that You have called them to do right now?

Lord, I just pray that they would be open to receive everything that you have for them. Lord, that you would fill them with Your Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, that you would just fill them, they would be filled with Your Spirit so they would have the wisdom to know what to write, what to do, how to market, how to move forward.

Lord, I just pray for their skill, I pray that they would continue to be lifelong learners, and they would grow in the knowledge, field, or expertise that You have called them to, they would continue to grow as a writer, publisher, marketer.

Lord, I just pray that you would bless their lives, and I do ask Lord that, just like Moses, they would be able to say one day, “I finished the work. I crossed the finish line. I did just as God showed me, just as He commanded me, just as He gave me. I finished the work.” Not in our own strength, Lord, but by Your Spirit. Not in my power, but by Your Spirit says the Lord.

So, God, I just pray that You would help each person to move forward in the assignment You have given them filled with the Spirit, skilled in what You’ve called them to do, and with joy!

Lord, that they would see it is a privilege to be Your mouthpiece, it is a privilege to be Your voice in this generation, for such a time as this. I pray Your blessings over each author right now, Lord, and I pray that You would pour out from heaven exactly what they need right now in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

EndNote

My encouragement to you today is to be filled and to be skilled, and then to cross that finish line.

So, one day you, like Moses, can say, “at last, I finished the work.”

Thank you for being with me today. I encourage you to also watch my webinar, “Write Now: Removing the Obstacles to Your Writing Life,” here:
https://www.facebook.com/authoraudience/videos/2066247406965697/

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