Yesterday, I posted about my dream to write a novel/screenplay. I’ve had this dream as long as I can remember, all the way back to when I was a small child, making up little shows for my sister and my cousins. That dream went away for a long time. It was beaten down by a whole lot of voices, internal and external, that basically all asked the same question. “Who are you to think you an do that?”
What qualifies me to do such a lofty project? Nothing really. I’ve never written fiction to speak of, though I do love to write and tell stories, sort of modern day parables, if you will. I went to a writer’s workshop two years ago with actor, comedian, screenwriter Torry Martin, and it sort of re-lit the spark. Am I qualified to do this? On paper no, but I’ve learned not to get too caught up in earthly qualifications and as a Christian creative, I don’t think you can either. Remember, as the old saying goes, “professionals built the Titanic, amateurs built the Ark.”
Am I belittling education and experience? No. We all owe it to ourselves to work hard at the things God has given us to do. What I am saying is if the Lord is leading you to do something, don’t disqualify yourself as inexperienced. Start doing the work. Make the effort. Show up every day, roll up your sleeves and give it your best. From there it’s in God’s hands.
As I look back over this career of mine, I think of all the cool things I have gotten to do. From writing for a youth ministry resource, to meeting some of my favorite performers, to my work for a licensee of the Teenage Mutant Turtles, to the books that I’ve written, to the opportunities I have had to speak to thousands of people all over this country, they all have one thing in common. I facetiously say “Great things have happened in my life over and over again because I was “too stupid to know I wasn’t qualified.” Now to be clear, I don’t think I’m too stupid to do most things. Rather, I’ve made a conscious decision when I feel led to do something, to assume that I can do what God calls me to do. I start putting forth the effort and I do the work. That’s not to say everything I do is a raging success, but everything has at the very least brought personal growth and experience and so it was worth the experience. I learned this when I wrote my first book. I shopped it around for a publisher, and was rejected over and over again. Finally I was approached by an e-publisher who told me after reading my manuscript, she reconciled a broken relationship. It was at that point, I made a decision, if even one person is touched and/or blessed, the effort was worth my time, because I was doing something I loved and something I feel God led me to. That attitude has led me to some really great places.
God is good, trust Him to know whether or not you’re qualified and do the work.
AMOKArts 