Still Waiting?

I've been in waiting mode for years with this novel I'm writing. Waiting for me to commit the time to it (note I didn't say find the time). Waiting for inspiration to strike. Waiting for God to extend His finger from the sky and emblazon my manuscript with the perfect words.

Waiting. Yes, for these things, but mostly for the courage to continue.

So, anyway, I'm browsing through the Novel Rocket archives (as I like to do) and I find this post by Anita Mellott from March of 2010 on waiting. (Feel free to enjoy it again.)

Anita's waiting was of a different texture than mine, but this line leapt out at me: "I had a choice--to allow the tentacles of doubt and anxiety to tighten their stranglehold on me or to 'travel steadily along his path' (Psalm 37:34; NLT)."

I, too, have a choice--and it's the same one.

Then, in my mind, a song started playing (I'm a regular jukebox, most days). John Waller's While I'm Waiting from the movie Fireproof. It's totally out of context from my brand of waiting, but here's the line I heard:

And I will move ahead bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

It's that "bold and confident" part I have trouble with. But I think I'm nearing the end of my self-imposed time of waiting.

How about you? Have you been waiting? Letting fear of (fill in the blank) rob you of your writing?

I think it's time to take a step in obedience. Are you with me?

Michael Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild. He has written for newspapers and other print and online outlets. He edited several nonfiction books, was the senior editor for a faith-based financial services and insurance organization, and is the editor of Afictionado, the ezine for American Christian Fiction Writers.