Our Faithful God
Posted by Tim Wade on March 22, 2009
I want to share with you the explosion of events that has occurred in my life in just the last five weeks that has suddenly launched me into a writing career. If this is not of God, I do not know what is.
Today is Sunday, March 22, 2009. Since February 13, 2009 the following things have happened:
1. February 13 – A lady I met on Twitter introduced me to an online writer’s group.
2. February 17 – Upon being accepted for membership in the writers group, I ask for help with my writing for the first time. My plea for help is heard and by a very amazing, talented, and successful author, Mr. Murphey, who happens to also be a man of devoted to helping others. In addition to this man, others hear my plea and lend me their support.
3. February 20, 21, 22 – Mr. Murphey sends me a personal email asking if I could attend a writer’s conference. Upon receiving my reply the next day, he asks me to call him at his home. When I call him he offers to pay all my expenses to the 2009 Florida Christian Writer’s Conference.
4. February 25- March 1 – I attend the 2009 Florida Christian Writer’s Conference where I am baptized by fire into the world of professional writing. I also meet several editors who express an interest in my work.
5. March 2 – March 20 Inspired by the Holy Spirit I write and submit to for publication 2 skits, one poem, and one article in addition to writing a second article that I will submit for publication in the near future.
6. March 15, 16 – After several days of prayerful contemplation the Lord gives me the inspiration to write a book, but not the words to begin brainstorming the concept. After a night of prayer I wake up a 4:00 AM filled with the words that have become the start to my first non-fiction book. Since then I have written a ten chapter outline, synopsis for 5 chapters, and actually written close to three chapters.
7. February 17 – Present From the beginning of this venture I have been encouraged to start a critique group. I toyed with the idea, but became frustrated with not knowing how to do it. Then when the weekly discussion in the writer’s group turned to critique groups, I again reached out for help. Since then two people have expressed an interest in forming a group online while one person even gave me a book on how to started different writer’s groups.
8. March 17 – I was asked by one of the teachers where I work to ghost write a portion of his life story to include his personal testimony and his relationship with his dad.
10. March 22 – Perhaps most important throughout all this has been the full support of my wife. If you knew how many ideas I have brought to her over the past few years, and how many times she has said, “No, just wait on God,” you would know how huge her support really is.
There is something else I need to share with you, something very personal. I will not air my dirty laundry, but will tell you that all these thing I have mentioned have come about after repenting of two very huge sins that have dominated my life over the course of the last ten or fifteen years, and perhaps even longer.
Despite constant pressure from God, I resisted for more than two year the call of God to repent of one of these sins, and in so doing nearly lost my marriage, and my family. It did force me to give up my ministry as a college pastor, although no one in the church knew about the sin, and my resignation was completely voluntary. Even then I held on my sinful lifestyle and refused let God cleanse me and recreate me.
What may seem strange to some is that I held on to this sin in spite of knowing for months, if not years, that God wanted to completely restore my life, if only I would just it down and walk away. I knew the floodgates would open for me to minister to people if I would just forsake my idolatry and let God have His way with my life. How He would do this I did not know, but I knew He would, and yet, I continued to resist.
When I finally did repent, an act that required a complete heart makeover, it led me to the discovery of the second sin, deep-seated pride. My heart, already broken after repenting of the first sin, was ready to hear from God when he revealed how I had made myself the center of a world where only He deserved to be glorified. I have already written on this so I will not repeat myself except to say that when I became aware of the fact that I was stealing God’s glory, I was deeply grieved within my spirit.
Now I have come full circle. Gone are the vices, the sinful idolatrous lifestyles of lust and greed that once separated me from my God who has stood beside me throughout this entire ordeal. I praise God, who despite being treated so poorly, never withheld His love from me.
I don’t pretend to know where you are in your walk with God, or where you have been, but let me encourage you to have a little faith in Him. Take God at face value when He tells you and I in Romans 8:35-39 this nothing we do can separate us from His love. Even though you and I may not be faithful to Him, He remains faithful to us, and is waiting to restore that which we are so often willing to throw away.
