What’s Your Writing Verse?

A few years into my writing journey, I was frustrated and anxious. Events were not unfolding as I thought they should, yet I still felt that deep desire to write. If I was doing what God wanted me to do, why was I experiencing roadblocks? When I set aside a time of prayer and Bible reading to find my focus, Proverbs 16:3 seemed to jump off of the page in large letters.  After studying it in several translations, I’ve paraphrased it:

Entrust your efforts completely to the LORD and he will cause your thoughts to align with his so that your works shall be established and successful.

Through one sentence with a simple message God built my confidence and clarified my focus. That is renewed every time I revisit this verse.

1.       I’m not alone. I’m in a relationship with the almighty, all-powerful God.

2.       I must exercise faith.  If I say, “Sit back. I’ve got this one God.”  He will, until I learn how hopelessly bereft I am doing it my way.

3.       When I take his path, step by step, my thoughts merge into his will. He gives fresh and new desires in my heart that I find pleasing, joyful, fulfilling.  God doesn’t usually take me on the route that I’ve mapped out, but he always takes me on the best route.

4.       The results are successful, externally as well as internally.

5.       I find myself firmly in places I didn’t know I would go, but which bring satisfying results to me and which touch others.

The verse deserved a place on my office wall where my forgetful heart can readily see it. How about you? What verse has God given you for your writing life? If you haven’t accepted it, take some time to quiet yourself before God. He has so much he wants to give you. A Writing Verse is just one.

Mary Allen lives in the Midwest. She was La Porte County Poet Laureate from 2010-2011 and serves as Arts in the Park Poetry Chair. Mary can be found on  The Barn Door.net, has published numerous article, two real life stories in "Kernels of Hope", and a book of poems, "Journey to Christmas"