The Hidden Connection Between Writer and Reader

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

Squeals erupted in the backyard. Lucy Shepherd took another sip of hot chocolate, and swiveled her computer chair to look out the window of her study.

“I should be out there with them,” she mumbled, “not stuck in here in front of this computer screen.”

Falling leaves encircled her two redheaded girls as they ran through a pile of leaves they had created. Pure joy. No worries. No deadlines. No blog posts. Lucy began her pity party chant.

 “Writer’s block, writer’s block. Don’t look at the clock.

Stuck in your chair, chewing on your hair.

Where are the words? How strong are the cords

That tie me to this screen while my little girls preen.

Who really cares? I don’t get that many shares.”

Lucy chuckled at her silly rhyme and looked back at her screen. The little sparrow picture she had found sat underneath the title that took her ten minutes to decide upon. When she had finally titled her blog post, “Will God Provide Again?” writer’s block shut down her creative juices. 

“Will God provide again? A fitting title,” she told her screen. “Will He provide more blog followers? A platform? An agent? Well, He’s going to have to provide the words for this post!”

She paused and looked out the window.

“OK, redheaded beauties,” she whispered to the girls who couldn’t hear her. “Mommy needs thirty more minutes. Let’s see if we can write two paragraphs. I will write this for God and see what happens.”

***

Yelling erupted in another backyard. “Pass! Pass!” In the kitchen, Brenda Hawthorne turned off the water and stopped washing dishes long enough to watch her four boys play football. Pure joy. No worries. No deadlines. No bills. She wasn’t sure how they were going to pay next month’s rent and other bills, but their echoing laughter soothed her heart.

Brenda dried her hands, and picked up her phone. “Facebook usually helps.” She tapped the app, and scrolled until a pretty graphic caught her eye. The image of a sparrow looked back at her. 

“Doesn’t God feed the sparrows?” she asked. “Four sparrows and their mama?”

The title “Will God Provide Again?” moved her to tap the sparrow’s picture, and a new window revealed a blog by someone named Lucy Shepherd. Brenda read about two little red-headed sparrows who flew among the leaves in the backyard. If Lucy could love these little birds so much as a mom, how much more does God love His flock of children? And He doesn’t just provide once for them, but again and again.

Brenda moved to the kitchen window and looked at her sparrows. “God sees, and He knows,” she whispered. “He’ll provide … again.”

***

As writers, it’s easy to question whether what we’re doing has any value. We can get focused on numbers—how many blog followers, Facebook likes, and retweets we have. It’s important to build a platform as we write, but I’ve discovered that it’s the quality of the content that counts more than the quantity of people who may or may not read it. 

God sees what we can’t—the hidden connection to our readers. We won’t always know who is reading our writing, but He does. He knows how to apply what we’ve written to what our readers are facing. He uses our words to soothe hearts, build hope, answer questions, break chains, and renew faith.

All it takes is for one of God’s “sparrows” to know that He cares, and our efforts have been worthwhile. God has called some of His children to be His scribes, recording insights and stories that encourage hearts and transform lives. When our messages are based on Scripture, we can make an eternal difference in someone’s heart. 

God does see, He does know, and He does care. He provides what we need as believers and as writers, and that is something to be thankful for. 

So keep writing, fellow scribe! From one sparrow to another, I encourage you to trust God in the writing and publishing process. It takes time to craft a great blog post and edit a wonderful book. It takes time to gain new readers and followers. Every season of the journey adds understanding and experiences that we need to become better people and better writers. Don’t waste a season. Trust God to provide for His writing sparrows, and believe that He will provide the hidden connections we may never discover until heaven.

Has God ever connected you to someone’s writing and it helped you in a profound way? Maybe you never told the author, but the writing answered a prayer, solved a problem, or gave direction. Share your thoughts in the comments below, and join the conversation!

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Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author, an editor of Refresh Bible Study Magazine, and a co-founder of Lighthouse Bible Studies. Her first compilation, Breaking the Chains, won a 2018 Selah finalist award. Her second compilation, Heart Renovation: A Construction Guide to Godly Character, released this summer. Katy’s writing can be found at CBN.com, at thoughts-about-God.com, at PursueMagazine.net, at two blogs on writing, in online magazines, and on devotional blogs. She loves spending time with family and friends, making jewelry, and hunting for the best peanut butter cookies. Connect with her at her blogand onFacebookand Twitter.