Looking Back – Looking Forward
Now we’ve stepped into the New Year it seems good to look back and take stock. Twelve months ago I had just completed and submitted the manuscript that would become my new book. At that time, it had no title and no cover design and still needed a great deal of editing to reach the point of being publishable. Over the next 3 months there would be many suggestions both from the publishers and from myself, as to what the best title could be. But when ‘Unashamed’ was put forward, there was a sense of instant recognition from all concerned, that we’d found it. This was the right title, not just in the sense of what the book would be known as, but as a declaration of God’s work in our lives, that He is making us a people who can live unashamed, with the freedom and joy of being wholly forgiven and everlastingly loved.
But, looking again at the past year, where I thought I’d be reviewing my writing and pondering what I’d achieved and any new steps I may now take as a writer, my thoughts are turning more to my own journey of becoming an unashamed person. Calling my book by such a bold name was challenging because what I write, for me, always has to be true; to come out of the deepest part of who I am and so, to convey hope to all who read it. In this case, that it is possible to live unashamed, because of God’s amazing transforming work in our lives.
So is that true for me? Well, what I’m discovering is that yes, it is possible because God’s love makes all things possible, but it is a journey of growth and discovery. Ground taken, ground lost, ground regained, and ground transformed.
Bringing Unashamed out has been a huge achievement and I am proud to have done it and proud and grateful for the impact it is having on those who read it. But that very process is creating more awareness of the areas in my heart that still need God’s transforming love. I wrote about overcoming fear, but anxiety often grips me as to whether I am doing enough compared to other writers; I wrote about reshaping rejection yet I am battling against the whisper of rejection as I consider others reactions to me and my writing. I wrote about the importance of listening to the right words that can be built as solid foundations of God’s truth into our lives and am finding that it is a daily need, even a hard-fought battle, to take hold of such ‘life words’ and plant them into my heart and in the process dig out and put to death the lies and negatives.
And so I’m realising something awesome, that the very work of this last year, is not so much a finished product but a series of wonderful steps or keys that I am discovering how to use just as much as I am helping others to use. That’s quite a realisation! And it’s a joyful one because it is the Holy Spirit guiding me into this truth and Jesus who is walking the path with me (and all of us) and the Father who is overshadowing me with His unconditional love that empowers and sets me free.
So this year, I will be exploring what I wrote last year. I will take hold of the steps He gave me and share my journey of truly becoming unashamed. And I do hope that will help and inspire you on your own journey too.
So I’ve written, I’ve published, I’ve launched. I’ve battled, I’ve triumphed and I’m growing in my ability to love Jesus, myself and others more deeply.
And as writing is my means of, not only sharing God’s love but also discovering my own need of His healing, I am sure, looking forward into this next year, that there is more writing to come. I will be writing – creating, exploring, processing, planting and growing through the words I write. Hopefully those words will inspire and help others too. I am really looking forward to the steps He will lead me on this year, both the inner and outer steps. He is our guide and promises to lead us from one degree of glory to another.
You are on that same path and the good news is that in Him, we have the victory. As He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’
Tracy
