Compelled to Write

Edie here. Today I'm super excited to introduce you to my friend who's a fellow blogger and author. Here newest book, A Mary Like Me, is taking the world by storm and I'm so glad I was able to convince her to stop by The Write Conversation. Be sure to give her a warm welcome!

Compelled to Write
by Andy Lee @WordsByAndyLee

Compelled to Write.

Authors are either audacious or brave or both.

What makes us think we have something to say?

Sometimes, as a writer, I wonder if I’m crazy. Doubts fill my mind. 

But as a blogger, writer and now author, I'm finding that my "job" is not about the blog, the books, or my wit or wisdom, or lack of it. It's about a compelling.

I am compelled to write. What started as a whisper from God seven years ago, an idea for a book, has become my life. It's 8:30 on a Thursday night, and I'm compelled to sit down and type a post for my blog. Nobody is forcing me. No paycheck waits in my mailbox at the end of the month. I just can't help it.

Are you compelled to do something? Do you feel if you don't do that activity a piece of you will be missing?

If you feel compelled, I believe that is a sign of a calling. Perhaps Gabriel didn't surprise you as he did Mary of Nazareth nor a burning bush lit your path like Moses, but you know. God has called you.

Yet despite the compelling and calling, we doubt we can do what we're compelled to do.

Are we crazy?

Yes.

But. . .

". . . God is able to make all grace abound to us, so that in all things, at all times, having all that we need, we will abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8, plural mine).

The word "grace" comes from a Greek word whose root means, "causing joy, pleasure, and delight.” How do we know if the compelling we feel is from God? We know it when we experience grace— joy, pleasure, and delight in the work.

The other morning as I wrestled through my (almost) daily battle about whether or not I could do what I'm compelled to do, a picture flashed through my mind of the two women who anointed Jesus. Maybe the image of their brave acts were fresh on my mind because I had just finished line edits for A Mary Like Me: Flawed Yet Called. I write about these women who anoint Jesus in the book. I love the act of worship they performed (John 12:1-8 and Luke 7:37-39).

I often visualize worshiping Him this way—anointing the Messiah with my perfumed oil and tears.

But this time as the story flashed through my mind, I was not the one pouring the oil; I was the alabaster jar.

I wasn't the one pouring. I wasn't the oil.

I was simply the vessel being emptied. Just a plain, simple, kind of ugly, jar.

I didn't own the contents of the jar nor the hand pouring the contents out. I was the one being held. And the fragrant oil was something wonderful that someone had filled me with.

In this vision I was simply the vessel of which the oil was being poured out.

And with no words at all, God settled my fears. He showed me that this calling is not about my talent or wisdom. It's not about what I can do for Him. It's simply about being apart of something greater.

It’s an act of worship.

And I’m compelled.

Share your thoughts: What are you compelled to do? Does this post help you to obey—to be the vessel? 

TWEETABLE

Compelled to Write - thoughts from author Andy Lee, @WordsByAndyLee on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

A Mary Like Me

While still in need of a Savior, they were called by God. Come find grace and courage to follow your call as you discover the Mary in yourself.

A Mary like Me unites twenty-first-century women with first-century saints by exploring the hearts of some of the most famous women of the Bible. One gave birth to the Son of God, another sat at his feet, and another was the first to proclaim his resurrection. These women shared the name Mary, which means bitter, defiant, and rebellious; and a closer look at Scripture reveals their personalities in light of their name.

Andy Lee is a new author of recently released books: A Mary Like Me: Flawed Yet Called (Leafwood), and The Book of Ruth Key Word Bible Study: A 31-Day Journey to Hope and Promise (AMG). She’s the blog coordinator/editor for the Florida Christian Writers Conference (floridacwc.net), an event speaker, Bible teacher, and mom of three grown kids. Andy and her retired Army soldier, Mike, live on the coast of North Carolina where she loves to sit on the beach and dig her toes into the sand. Visit her website www.wordsbyandylee.com for encouragement to find purpose beyond today.