From Edie: Learn how writers can finish the year strong by stewarding time and creativity with biblical wisdom from Ephesians 5:15–17. Discover how clarity, obedience, and faithfulness can replace pressure and help you complete what God has truly assigned.
Finish the Year Strong as a Writer: Biblical Wisdom for Stewarding Time and Creativityby Kennita (Kay) Williams
Ephesians 5:15–17
As the year draws to a close, many writers find themselves caught between two emotions: gratitude for what was accomplished and frustration over what remains unfinished. Unfinished drafts. Half-written devotionals. Ideas still sitting in notebooks or voice memos. The pressure to “wrap things up” before December 31 can quietly turn creativity into chaos.
But Scripture offers us a better way forward.
In Ephesians 5:15–17, Paul writes, “So be careful how you live. Do not live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity… Understand what the Lord wants you to do.” These verses are not a call to hustle harder or cram more into our schedules. They are an invitation to steward time with wisdom, intention, and clarity especially as we approach the end of a season.
Be Careful How You Live and How You Write
Paul begins with an important word: careful. He is not speaking of fear, but of awareness. Writers are often generous with everyone else’s needs, church commitments, family responsibilities, ministry obligations while treating their own creative calling as optional. Over time, that lack of awareness costs us more than productivity; it erodes confidence and joy.
Being careful means noticing where our time goes. It means acknowledging distractions that pull us away from the work God has entrusted to us. Wisdom begins with honesty. If we want to finish strong, we must first see clearly
Wise over busyness
Paul contrasts wisdom with foolishness, not laziness. Foolishness, in this context, looks like activity without alignment. Writers can be incredibly busy posting, promoting, planning, yet never actually finishing the assignment God placed on their heart.
Wisdom invites us to ask better questions:
- What is mine to finish this season?
- What am I carrying that God never assigned?
- What does obedience look like right now?
Wisdom simplifies. It removes unnecessary pressure and focuses our energy on what truly matters.
Making the Most of Every Opportunity
This verse is often misunderstood as “do more,” but the original language suggests redeeming time, rescuing it from waste, distraction, or misuse. For writers, redeeming time does not mean writing for hours every day. It may mean fifteen focused minutes without scrolling. It may mean returning to a draft you abandoned because doubt crept in. It may mean saying no to one good thing so you can say yes to the right thing.
Opportunities do not always look like open doors; sometimes they look like quiet moments of faithfulness. Finishing a paragraph. Revising a chapter. Submitting the piece you have been sitting on for months.
Understanding the Lord’s Will
Paul closes with clarity: “Understand what the Lord wants you to do.” God’s will is not hidden behind confusion. He is not asking us to complete everything, only what He has assigned.
As the year ends, clarity often comes through pause. Jesus Himself modeled this by withdrawing to quiet places before moving forward. Writers, too, need intentional pauses, not to procrastinate, but to realign.
Ask the Lord:
- What needs to be completed before this year ends?
- What can be released without guilt?
- Where do You want my focus, not just my effort?
When clarity comes, finishing becomes lighter not heavier.
Finishing Strong Looks Different Than Starting Fast
Finishing strong does not require perfection. It requires faithfulness. You may not complete the entire manuscript this year, but you can complete the chapter God asked you to write. You may not publish yet, but you can prepare. You may not see the fruit at once, but obedience is never wasted.
Time is a gift. And how we steward it speaks to what we value.
As writers and Christian communicators, we honor God not by exhausting ourselves, but by aligning our time with His purpose. As the year closes, choose wisdom over pressure, clarity over chaos, and faithfulness over frenzy.
Finish strong not because the calendar demands it, but because obedience invites it.
TWEETABLE
Dr. Kennita Williams is a visionary leadership coach, author, and founder of Clear Vision Consulting. With a passion for helping leaders overcome fear, lead with clarity, and live whole, healthy, and healed, she equips others to write, speak, and lead from a place of faith and obedience. She is the author of multiple devotionals and leadership tools and serves as a monthly contributor to The Write Conversation. Contact: drkay@clearvisionleader.com www.clearvisionleader.com
