May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. (Ps. 90:17)

At WriterCon 2021, I went to two sessions on time management—one by Jennifer McMurrain and the other by Tamara Grantham. I know the tricks and tips—I’ve taught them to other writers myself. But lately, applying them to my own writing life has been a challenge. I was hoping to learn something new, or to hear an old piece of advice taught in a new way. And I did.

One of the things I’ve struggled with revolves around completing my cozy mystery. I’m not usually a procrastinator, but I found that I would put my manuscript aside to work on almost any mundane task instead.

From these sessions, I learned that I do have time to write (during lunch, which is the time of day when I’m at my best). My problems isn’t lack of time or mismanagement of time—it’s fear of failure. What if I finish the book, and it’s a total flop? Or people leave negative reviews? Or…or…or…The list could go on.

Writing fiction is hard for me. Writing nonfiction, like this blog post, comes more naturally. I’ve also practiced writing nonfiction for over a decade longer than I’ve practiced fiction, which is something that I need to keep in mind.

When I expressed my fear of failure at the writing conference, several friends assured me that the work is completely doable. And they were right.

So I sat down and got to work. It was hard, but once I got started, it wasn’t as hard as I had thought it would be. Maybe that’s because I had built it up in my mind as this impossible thing, and it wasn’t that at all.

My struggles with writing might seem silly or lighthearted compared to the hard things you’re going through. Have you been putting off something that seems too hard because you’re unsure of the outcome? Maybe you need to have a tough conversation with someone close to you. Maybe you’ve received a devastating diagnosis. Maybe you need to make a decision, but you’re paralyzed because you’re afraid you’ll make the wrong choice. Maybe you’ve already made a decision (or a series of decisions), and it’s led you down a difficult road that you’re not sure how to turn away from.

I’ll be honest—on our own, in our own strength, tackling hard things is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. When we ask, he will give us his strength to get through those hard things. He’ll provide us with wisdom. The journey ahead will still be hard, but knowing he walks beside us can make all the difference.

Dear Jesus, thank you for walking with us through hard things. Guide us and give us wisdom to know how to face the hard things in our lives. Give us strength to get through them, and let us give you the glory. Amen.