How God Orchestrates the Events of Our Writing Life—The Mystery of the Open Door

By Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2

 

Do you ever pray for God to “open the door” in your publishing life? I do. Every day.

 

“Lord, open the door for this article to be published.”

 

“Lord, open the door for me to write/speak/teach/serve or ______(fill in the blank).”

 

“Lord, open the door for someone to publish my book.”

 

What exactly does it look like when God opens a door? In its most heavenly form, it means that God, out of nowhere and with no effort on our part, drops an incredible opportunity into our lap that we could never have engineered, fenagled, or coerced.

 

Scott Hubbard, in his article, “Walk in His Providence, How God Opens Doors for You,” writes, “Some of us live as though providence were something only to react to. We wait for a clear, providential open door, and then we react to that providence by walking through the doorway.”

 

In its most realistic and common form, however, God’s open doors are directly related to the effort we expend. “God has planned,” Hubbard continues, “for some doors to open only as we push them.”

 

This approach is biblical. Paul prayed, then headed off to Bithynia, where the door remained closed. He prayed and diverted to Troas. There he received a vision that directed him to Macedonia, where God opened the door for him to preach the gospel and plant the church at Philippi. 

 

Sadly, many of us, as Hubbard writes, “. . . sit in the hallway of life, waiting until a divine hand should swing a door open and push us through it.”

 

In most cases, this isn’t the way the writing world works. God expects us to walk the hallways, prayerfully seeking His direction and doing the work He leads us to do, until we arrive at the door He intends to open. With our arms full of experience, skill, and strength of character, we nudge the door and watch it swing open.

 

If it doesn’t, we head off down the hallway again, confident that, in the fullness of time, when we’ve learned the lessons, acquired the skills, and polished our writing ‘til it shines, we’ll turn the next (or the next, or the next) handle, and the door will swing wide.

 

Every open door I’ve experienced in my writing life has come about because I’ve prayed, sought God’s direction, and done the work.

 

A magazine published my first article after I wrote and rewrote it a dozen times, then submitted it for consideration.

 

I received an invitation to speak at a government agency’s annual conference after I joined a writers group and happened to meet the organization’s deputy director. 

 

The editor of Reach Out, Columbia magazine recommended me as her successor after I’d written for her (sometimes without pay) for three years.

 

I was invited to teach at a writers conference after submitting workshop proposals every year for five years.

 

I received a contract for Refresh Your Faith, Uncommon Devotions from Every Book of the Bible, after revising and reworking a proposal that had been rejected by 25 publishers.

 

Ask successful writers about their journey, and you’ll hear a similar story. Sometimes God swings open a door we never see until we’re standing in front of it. Most of the time, He pairs our human effort with His divine providence to accomplish His perfect will.

 

Writer, we have blog posts to create, articles to write, and book proposals to submit. How will we know if God intends to open the publishing door for any of these? 

 

We’ll pray, work hard, and turn the handle.

TWEETABLE

How God Orchestrates the Events of Our Writing Life—The Mystery of the Open Door  - @LoriHatcher2 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Lori Hatcher loves God even more than she loves chocolate—and that’s a lot. Since He saved her at age 18, she’s been on a relentless journey to know and love Him more. Her deepest desire is for her others to join her on the journey. As an author, blogger, and women’s ministry speaker, she writes for Our Daily Bread, Guideposts, Revive Our Hearts, and Crosswalk.com. She’s written three devotional books, including  Refresh Your Faith, Uncommon Devotions from Every Book of the Bible , and  Hungry for God…Starving for Time, Five-Minute Devotions for Busy Women . Connect with her at LoriHatcher.com or on Facebook, Twitter (@lorihatcher2) or Pinterest (Hungry for God).