1,061 Reasons Not to Quit Writing

by Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2
One thousand and sixty-one posts. This is how many blog posts I’d written. Ten years of blogging. On a really good day, I get two or three comments on each post. A few loyal readers email me from time to time to share how the Lord used a particular post to speak to their heart.
I have a page on my website called How to Know God. Analytics tell me that someone will occasionally visit the page, linger for a minute or two, then click off. Has anyone placed their faith in Christ because of this simple gospel presentation? I have no idea. 
This week, after I posted blog post 1,061, I received an email from a reader. I’ve changed the details to respect her privacy, but it went something like this:
Dear Lori,I’m a nurses’ aid in a retirement center. I’ve stood at patients’ bedside and held their hands as they died. Last year, my father passed away in my arms after a long battle with cancer. I think a lot about death and what happens after we die. How can I know heaven is real? I try to talk to God, but I don’t know if He hears me. I feel more peaceful after reading your blog posts. I want the kind of faith you have. I ordered your Refresh book and the MacArthur Study Bible you recommended. Will you please pray for me?
I took a deep breath, prayed for God to lead me, and send a reply. I shared my faith journey and how a friend had shared the gospel with me at age 16. I included six verses from the book of Romans with a one- or two-sentence explanation of each. I used the words sin, death, and hell. I also used the words forgiveness, eternal life, and heaven.
I closed with the lines, “If you feel God stirring your heart, and you’d like to surrender your life to Christ and ask Him to forgive you of your sins, tell Him in a simple prayer. 
I included the prayer I prayed so many years ago as an example but encouraged her to speak to God from her heart. “If you mean it,” I wrote, “God will hear and answer your prayer.”
I clicked Send and prayed again. “Lord, use my simple words and your great Word to save this dear soul.”
Two days later I received a reply:
Dear Lori,Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and the Bible verses. It comforts me to know that you struggled, too. I prayed the prayer you suggested. I don’t know for sure that God heard me, but I already feel a peace I didn’t have before. 
You may be discouraged by the number (or lack thereof) of blog subscribers, YouTube viewers, or book sales. 
You may be thinking of quitting writing. Of closing the lid of your laptop and never looking back. 
At my first writers conference, Cindy Sproles shared this Alton Gansky quote: 
“When you write for God, and you really mean it . . . your work may never show up on the shelves at Lifeway. It may never find its way into bound print at all. But when you write for God, when you write with the heart of a servant . . . you may find that your words are only meant for the guy sitting next to you. If you can accept this . . . live with it . . . then you can truly write for God.”
I wrote 1,061 posts before someone responded and gave her life to Christ. 
What if I’d quit at 1,060?
“Don’t be weary in doing good,” the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:9, “for you will reap a harvest if you don’t give up.”
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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 others to join her on the journey. As an author, blogger, writing instructor, women’s ministry speaker, and career dental hygienist, 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. Her latest book, Refresh Your Prayers, Uncommon Devotions to Restore Power and Praise releases March 1, 2022. Connect with her at www.LoriHatcher.com or on Facebook, Twitter (@lorihatcher2) or Pinterest (Hungry for God).