Year after year I’ve struggled to be a published writer. Maybe my motivation is all wrong. I’ve dreamed of being on the New York Times Best Seller list for decades, and I’m no closer to that dream than when I started my first novel when I was 21 years old. Sometimes I feel like I’ve wasted 38 years of dreaming, hoping, starting a new novel only to discard it out of boredom, and praying for God to give me a miracle in this area of my life.

How many of us are waiting on God for a divine word? Are we expecting a voice from heaven? Or a message on a billboard? Or perhaps the lyrics of a song to touch our heart? I know I’d like a huge neon billboard flashing God’s will for my life.

I’ve gone to my instruction manual on this area of my life. I know God has a plan for me. So, why not share it with me, God? Do any of you feel the same way?

We all have dreams. Some may seem outlandish, and some may seem quite ordinary. But God’s calling is neither—our dreams are perfect. In Romans 11:29 it says, “for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” That’s great news for me and for you! God will never take away the gifts he’s given to each of us, nor will he ever abandon us.

The epiphany I came to this week is: God wants me to do my part. If I truly have a desire and a talent in this area, then I need to sit my butt down in the chair and write. I have a drawer full of research for various novels I’ve started and discarded because, well, they just weren’t very good. I’ve spent more time researching than writing. Maybe this fact tells me a lot about myself, too. I don’t want to put in the hard work of writing. I suppose I think if I research enough, the book will write itself. And worse still, I want God to perform a miracle and just hand me what I want on a silver platter.

In 2 Thessalonians 1:11 I found this nugget of gold, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.”

So, this past week I took time to be proactive in my writing career and actually wrote the first chapter of my book. And you know what? I felt pretty good about myself and the steps I’m taking. I’m choosing to believe that if I do my part, God will be faithful to do his.