I encourage and challenge Christians who write to pen stories with God a lot. While I’ve focused primarily on hearts and souls, I want to be practical and helpful too.
What does it look like to write stories with God and His truth in them? How can you live it out?
First, it looks like you knowing and abiding in Him.
Let me ask you something: if you lived on the moon and didn’t know about the President of the United States, would he oddly make it into your story? Probably not.
Similarly, without knowing the Lord, we will have neither the desire nor the ability to pen about Him.
Let Hosea 6:3 encourage you. “Let us know the LORD; let us press on to know Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear, He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Abiding is more than knowing about God or even knowing who He is; it’s personally, intentionally relating to Him day by day. It is remaining connected to Him each hour.
Abiding is received and maintained through prayer, reading the Bible, memorizing and meditating on the Bible, singing, listening to spiritual songs and hymns, speaking truth to yourself and others, spending time with other believers in Jesus, acts of service, listening to sermons or biblical podcasts, journaling interactions with Christ, putting on your spiritual armor, and actively participating in growing more like Christ through the Holy Spirit (living out the Bible).
Jesus told us about the importance of abiding in Him: “I am the true Vine, and my Father is the gardener…Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples” (John 15:1,4-8).
Second, it looks like correctly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” We cannot portray God however we please. His words, actions, and being must reflect all that Scripture reveals about Him. So, we must read and study the Bible. Pray that we will be workmen approved by God who correctly handle the word of truth.
Besides portraying God, whether in spoken active faith of the believers or as a Being in the book, this verse also speaks of the Bible itself. Every verse we quote or passage we use in our books ought to be studied and wisely discerned for its purpose, not twisted or shoved in. Delight in God’s Word, seek to understand it, and enjoy meshing story and Scripture into something meaningful.
Thirdly, it looks like simple mirroring strategies.
Look into the Scriptures to see how God interacts with His people. How He threads together people and circumstances to accomplish His sovereign purposes.
Consider, for example, what Psalms 93-100 says about who God is, what He does, and how we respond. (This is a list from my personal study; please go read them for yourself!)
ACTIONS – THE LORD:
Reigns
Establishes
Avenges
Hears
Sees
Punishes
Disciplines
Teaches
Knows
Gives relief
Gives help
Supports
Consoles
Hides us
Repays
Destroys wickedness
Creates, Forms, Makes
OUR RESPONSE:
Declare His glory and marvelous deeds
Fear Him
Ascribe Him glory and strength
Bring an offering
Worship Him
Tremble before Him
Say, “the Lord reigns!”
Rejoice and be glad
Love the LORD
Hate evil
Rejoice in the LORD
Praise His holy name
Exalt the LORD our God
Worship at His footstool
Keep His statutes and decrees
Know that the LORD is God
ACTIONS – THE LORD:
Sustains
Judges
Comes to judge
Consumes His enemies
Lights up
Guards
Delivers
Gives joy
Works salvation and makes it known
Reveals His righteousness
Remembers His love and His covenant
Sits enthroned
Loves justice
Establishes equity
Answers
Speaks
Forgives
OUR RESPONSE:
Acknowledgement
Proclamation
Follow righteousness
Take refuge in Adonai
Sing for joy
Shout aloud to the Rock
Come before Him with thanksgiving
Extol Him with music and song
Bow down in worship
Kneel before the Maker
Accept the Shepherd’s care
Do NOT harden heart
Know His ways
Sing a new song
Praise His name
Proclaim His salvation
Any or all of these actions and responses could be tied into your story and characters with some creativity! Give it a whirl!
Fourth, it looks like grappling with the truth.
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Here, we know in part. You won’t fully know God and His Word. You can’t plumb the depths all in a hurry to incorporate the Scriptures better. That’s not the goal.
The point is to be in an on-going relationship with God, being transformed by the Spirit, delighting in His Word, and to incorporate your spiritual testimonies into the story you’re penning.
Christians wrestle with the truth. Questions, lament, struggles, and confusion aren’t excluded from a story that is seeking God’s kingdom first. Just look at the Psalms or Lamentations!
We wrestle with God through prayer. We bring our questions, tears, confusion, and pain directly to Him – because He can do something about it! Our characters can also wrestle – in prayer, plot, dialogue – and emerge at the end of a journey with renewed faith and joy, deepened knowledge of the truth, even a testimony or song.
You don’t have to have all the answers. You just need to be faithful to God.
Fifth, it looks like the examples of those who have written before us!
Romans 15:5 says, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
The Bible is historical – literal, truthful accounts of God, His creation, and His great plan of redemption spanning through ages. Yet, look at the example of how so many authors penned about God at work in their lives!
We will not be divinely inspired like those men (1 Timothy 3:16), but we can draw from their examples and pen about God at work in our lives – even in fiction.
Also, look at the example of Christians who have written Kingdom-Seeking books before you. That’s one of the reasons I’m reviewing books on KSC. My purpose is to showcase books that can be examples for us as writers and impactful to our faith as readers.
Thanks be to God, there are truly Christian, seek-first-the-kingdom-of-God books that have been written and are being written today!
And don’t let the prose or skill that seems to fly off the pages of those books discourage you. Here’s a little secret: they’re just putting everything in this blog into practice and God is blessing it. He will bless you, too.
Know and abide in God.
Make every effort to handle the Word of Truth correctly.
Use simple mirroring strategies.
Wrestle with the truth.
Look and learn from the examples set before us.
And write stories with God!
One Comment
Thank you for all of the thought and effort you put into sharing this, Alyson!