Walk on Water?

Walk on Water?
by Kay Gibson

Can you walk on water? Probably not.

When Jesus walked on water and called to Peter to come join him, Peter's faith failed. His fear was stronger than his faith. Sometimes, our fear is stronger than our faith in ourselves and our writing.

Maybe our problem is the same as Peter's; we take our eyes off Jesus. Sometimes, we simply fall asleep like Peter did in the garden. We're sleeping when we should be writing. Sometimes, it's the fear of walking on water, or sending our manuscripts into the world that we fail to have faith in. When Peter failed, he vowed to change. We must, too.

My greatest loss of faith comes when I say, "Why am I writing this? It will never be published." That's a white-out. Oh, sure, I've been published, but would you consider $100 annual writing income a success? No! Next, I need to change my writing habits; allot myself more writing time. Sure, I've filled every empty jar on my shelves with canned items from a bountiful garden, but I've only made $50 of my annual $100 writing income.

Maybe you need to allot yourself more time also? If you don't want to get up an hour earlier, try 30 minutes. Think about your topic while showering or making the coffee, and then spend the whole 30 minutes on writing. On your day off work, read your week's worth of writing. Can you make a good article, story, or poem out of any of them? Eventually, you will. If you are a fiction writer, write character sketches. If you do non-fiction, pick a topic that interests you, and write about it. You can dig into research later. Just write. There will be time for editing later.

Most of all, I need to let my work set for a while before I send it out. I get excited about a piece and off it goes. I think it's wonderful, but it isn't. Do you have that problem? It should be tucked in a drawer for at least a week, before you send it off, because a final rewrite is essential. I need to have more faith in my work, and not fear sending it out to walk on water. The more manuscripts we have in the mail, the better chance we have to get accepted. Who knows; one may skip right across the water, and net you a big sale.

Peter failed many times, but he moved on to be one of the greatest leaders in the Christian movement. I may never be a leader in Christian writing, but I'm vowing to change. How about you? So when we consider our doubts, we need to decide---- Is it fear that causes us to lose faith in writing? Could it be laziness? Remember, procrastination is a from of laziness. Resolve to do better. Faith is believing, so believe. Keep your eyes on Jesus and WRITE!