What now?

“The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:”

Isaiah 50:4a [KJV]

Think for a moment about a situation familiar to most Christians. You went to a church conference, camp or service. You were stirred, became emotional, prayed a prayer, made a promise, or knelt at the front during an altar call.

But now you’re home again. The emotional high has gone. Old habits and sins tempt strongly. Life’s pressures and responsibilities crowd around.

What happens next? Maybe nothing changes. Or you rush out eagerly – and burn out just as fast. But the desired outcome is lasting fruit: spiritual growth and whole-hearted service for the Lord.

What I want to share today is part-practical, part-testimony, that I hope will help you see lasting fruit in your life after a moment of spiritual conviction. I’m going to focus on how the Lord led me to start (and continue) this blog, Word in Season Writer. Let’s begin by talking about the call.

The call

By the ‘call’, I simply mean a time when a Christian comes under conviction of the Holy Spirit and knows their life needs to change. This might include repenting of sin, removing distractions, or serving the Lord in a specific way. For some Christians, this moment comes with the abruptness of Saul’s encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Others are re-directed as they serve (Acts 16:6-9), or reach a point of understanding after weeks, months or years.

How should we respond to the call?

Firstly, heed it. In John 8:47, we read, “He that is of God heareth God’s words.” It is sin to ignore his voice (Jeremiah 22:21-22). In October 2022, during a church camp session, I became convinced God was calling me to serve Him through writing. I prayed, “Lord, I thought callings were only for missionaries or pastors. Can writing be a real calling? But if this is what You want, I’m willing.” After the service, I read Isaiah 50:4a, “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:” Through this verse, the Lord confirmed the calling would be life-long and involve encouraging others.  

Secondly, let the Lord (not your desires) interpret it. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:16a, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?”. We’re easily tempted to interpret God’s will in the context of our own desires. That is exactly what I did. Within hours, I decided God wanted me to simply ‘Christianise’ my existing short stories and plans for a novel. My ministry (note the emphasis on ‘my’) was going to centre around writing fiction. My thinking stayed that way until I received wise counsel.

The counsel

When you feel God’s call, you need to seek counsel from godly people who know you and your circumstances. Pride tells us we don’t need counsel, but the Bible says God uses counsel to clarify His will for us: “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end” (Proverbs 19:20).

The following day, I spoke to my Pastor. He listened, asked questions, and then gave advice along these lines. Firstly, don’t quit your day job yet. Secondly, while there’s a need for Christian novels, there’s an even greater need for resources for women, so be open to the possibility of God wanting you to do something about that. Thirdly, Isaiah 50:4 talks about the tongue of the learned: you can’t help others unless you are first a teachable Bible student. Fourthly, keep seeking the Lord and praying about this.

I was relieved my Pastor had not belittled the call, but, frankly, some of his advice annoyed me. All that stuff about waiting, studying and being prayerful – I wanted to get started right now. And as for creating resources for women, nah, that was a job for some 60+ year old pastor’s wife, not 26-year-old, single me. As for Bible study, I was already attending different church studies, what more was I supposed to do?

The challenges and clarity

I liken this period to the experiences of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. When Jehoshaphat compared his small army to the huge enemy forces, defeat seemed inevitable. Yet he believed God would give Israel victory, and by faith, sought the LORD, proclaimed a fast, gathered Judah together, and prayed, “neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (2 Chronicles 20:12c). From Jehoshaphat, we learn challenges will come, and the importance of Scripture, faith, prayer and fasting in seeking clarity of God’s will.

Challenges will come. My migraines worsened, family drama escalated, and a week after camp, a routine inspection of my beehive ended with me in the back of an ambulance after a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction to bee stings. My close call with death shook me. If I died suddenly, how could I face the Lord and say, “You gave me a call, but I cared more about what I wanted than Your will”?

I attended every church service and prayer meeting, and spent a lot more time reading Scripture and praying. As I did so, I became burdened by my pastor’s comment about a lack of good resources by women for women, and investigated starting a blog. Yet what advice could me – a single, physically handicapped 27-year-old who felt like a failure – give to anyone? But one day I read 2 Corinthians 1:4 which says, “[God] comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” God simply wanted me to share what He was teaching me with others. That’s what Isaiah 50:4 was about. Now what?

Crunch time

Next there comes a period of sheer hard work. It’s the period when a would-be preacher learns how to study Scripture, a prospective missionary wrestles with a new language, and future king must learn to lead sheep before he can be entrusted with leading people (1 Samuel 17).

During this time, I built a website without prior experience and studied how to write blogs. Then I showed a draft post to my dad, a preacher. And Dad said, the structure’s a mess, you misinterpreted that verse there, you don’t have a key take-home message, etc. Several re-writes later, I showed it to my mum. And Mum said, your grammar makes me wince, and you have three spelling errors in the first paragraph. I fixed it up and showed it to my Pastor, and he said, I have a couple of suggestions…

Sigh. It was hard work. I made many mistakes. I battled constantly with pride, laziness, doubts and fear of what others thought. But two things kept me going – the conviction that this was God’s will for me, and the encouragement of my parents and Pastor.

Confirmation

The blog, named Word in Season Writer after Isaiah 50:4, launched in January 2023. I think five people read the first blog post. Reader numbers have grown, but even today, the number of views on each post remains small. So how did I know this was and still is God’s will for me?

Some areas of confirmation were internal. God gave me a peace about it (Isaiah 26:3). He also enabled, over and over. Every time I prayed in desperation, “Lord, I can’t write this, but I’m trusting you”, His grace proved sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). Spending 8-15 hours each fortnight meditating on Scripture strengthened my spiritual life – I subconsciously memorised Scripture, understood far more of the biblical ‘why’ for actions, and grew excited about serving the Lord in other areas. When how you live draws you closer to God, that’s a key indicator you are doing God’s will.

Another area of confirmation was – oddly enough – my migraines. For years, I’d asked the Lord to help me encourage other Christians. But have you ever tried to talk to people while you have a pounding headache? While I highly value in-person and phone conversations, the Lord gave me another, ‘migraine friendly’ way to encourage others. I could stop writing half-way through a sentence if I needed to lie down, I could type with one hand and hold an icepack to my throbbing head with the other… I get so excited and thankful thinking about how the Lord knows everything about us (Psalm 103:14), and uses our circumstances and personalities for His glory!

Other areas of confirmation were external. These include my Pastor’s ongoing support –something I consider scripturally important (Hebrews 13:17). I also receive occasional feedback from a reader, “thank you, the Lord used that to challenge/encourage me”. Additionally, at the same time the Lord stirred my heart, God worked in my church too. In 2024, our Pastor started daytime Bible College classes, primarily to help several young men who felt called to preach. I was able to join in part-time, with the opportunity to study Scripture in depth another important piece of the promise God had given me in Isaiah 50:4.

Conclusion

In summary, I want to leave you with 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” If the Lord has called you, trust and obey Him. Be careful and open to His leading, and you will see the Lord work in ways “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20b).