What was God thinking???

A blogger/writer friend of mine recently posted a great series on the obstacles that we encounter on our writing path. We all have things to overcome, and her most recent post was about when God takes us off the path for a period of time.

This is a really interesting topic and is a point of contention and heartache for a lot of people. When God tells us to “stall” in our writing, or points us in a different direction, we automatically assume, “I’ve messed up” or “I was on the wrong path!” or worse yet, “God doesn’t know what he’s doing, he keeps changing his mind.”

Come on, we’ve all felt it. It’s when we ask God WHY something doesn’t go the way it should have, or, at least how WE think it should have gone. We’re so sure we’re doing what God wants, then BAM, a giant boulder lands in the middle of the path and nothing goes as planned.

Here’s my take on the matter:

When I think of the *paths* I’m on, I don’t think of it as the “writing path” or the “motherhood path” or “career path”. I think of one big ole long path called “The life God wants Krista to lead.”

The path isn’t straight and narrow (which is a little misleading, since I grew up with my pastor referring to walk the straight and narrow…can anyone tell me if that’s really in the Bible like that?) But I think of it as one really big winding path, with highs and lows, breathe-taking views, and obstacles along the way.

It is most definitely not straight, and I think at times it’s narrower than others. But it’s MY path, and as long as I stay on it, I’m good. It very well might go through the forest of pain sometimes, and at other times I might be skipping through the wildflowers of happy-flourishing writing. Right now I’m doing the “find an agent” hurdles, and yes, sometimes my legs get tired. But I stay on the path. I walk in obedience.

Other times, the path starts to curve in an unexpected direction.

Wait a second. Didn’t God want me to write? Didn’t he want me to be a singer, a musician, an artist, a stay-at-home mom, a pastor, a husband, a wife, a teacher, a ________? That’s what God told me to do… .why aren’t things going as planned?

God? Do you know what you’re doing?

****answer****

God knows. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.

I posted a comment once on an agents blog that I think of God’s guidance like a flash light. He points it in the direction of the next step I’m to take, but he doesn’t always show me what’s up ahead. It’s called walking in faith and obedience. It’s scary to take a step and have to trust God that you’re going in the right direction.

I promised Jody I’d tell MY diversion/writing story, but you’ll have to wait another day or two. I don’t do short stories (come on… I’m a novelist for goodness sake!), so stay tuned for the next few blog posts to read “God’s Calling of Krista to Write” story.