Waiting and Running and Fainting

A few days ago, I posted that I was on a journey this year to find God's will for my writing. In response, Melanie Dickerson asked a good question--am I being proactive in my quest for publication, as well as sticking it out and learning to wait.

I'm glad Melanie asked, because I talk so often about waiting, but I'm not sure I've talked about how active we're supposed to be while we do. Kind of reminds me of the old saying, "God helps those who wait, as long as they work like the dickens while they're waiting." Actually, I've cleaned that saying up a bit, but the general meaning of it is good.

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 40:31: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (KJV) Notice it's talking about people waiting upon the Lord, but at the same time they're walking and running and needing all kinds of energy. These folks are active!

So yes, to answer Melanie's question, I think I'm working pretty hard on writing and submitting. I don't talk about those efforts all that much. Maybe I need to so I won't give the impression I think we should sit back and wait for good things to drop in our laps.

In the meantime, in thinking over this question, I wondered if my problem isn't the opposite. It could very possibly be I'm just plain lazy. Seriously! I think I would prefer to sit back and wait. I'm exhausted. I've been writing steadily and submitting for decades, but I've really made myself buckle down the last couple of years. In 2006, I wrote a novel in eight months. That may not sound like much to you, but for me, it was amazing. My previous record for turning out a manuscript is three years. If I stay on track this year, I will have produced three manuscripts in three years. I like that accomplishment, but I can't say writing is as much fun as it used to be.

So maybe God just needs to give me a good kick in the pants and tell me to stop whining and being so lazy. Actually I am seeing a lot of myself in those whiny children of Israel as God drags them out of Egypt to the Promised Land, kicking and screaming the whole way. I'll tell you more about that soon.