Being a Christian writer during the COVID-19 pandemic

For weeks, my head has been buzzing like a swarm of bees, while the world as we know it crumbles. Anxiety, disrupted sleep, trouble concentrating on work, reading too much news, scroll-scroll-scrolling through social media, trying to buy groceries from empty shelves (did I just hear a cough?!), worry, worry, worry.

Maybe you’ve been doing better than me and keeping calm and focused. We’re all different.

But a lot of imaginative people do suffer various forms of anxiety even in “normal” times.

The big change

On Friday, my mind-bees changed their tune in a deep and fundamental way. I believe God caused that change, and I want to share it with you.

On Friday, I attended several hours of a live-streamed conference for Christian business owners. Yes, a business conference not a writer’s conference, but stay with me.

My previous focus had been on hunkering down, protecting, surviving.

I came away from this conference with a very different frame of mind.

I would condense my new frame of mind to this:

We now have unprecedented opportunities as writers
to HELP PEOPLE,

not “despite”

but BECAUSE OF the pandemic.

What if you’re not strong enough?

You don’t have to be strong enough. That’s the whole point.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV)

The actual truth

We as Christians have an extraordinary strength to draw upon.

• The world needs that strength.
• People are more open to faith than I have ever seen them before. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. The regular supports have been stripped away, and more people know they are lost. They are so thirsty, my dear friends. So thirsty. We have living water to share.

We as creatives have the God-given ability to imagine new and unusual things.

• We know Someone who can give us new ideas specifically for this time.
• Remember he is THE Creator and he actually loves to hear from us and inspire us!

We as Gracewriters can speak grace, peace, hope and salvation into the lives of a planetful of people who are frightened and lost.

• If our readers are Christian, we can strengthen them.
• If our readers are secular, we can quietly point them towards forgiveness and hope.
• We can do it through books, through stories, through articles, through blogs.

Is God calling you to be a Gracewriter during this pandemic?

We all have different roles and responsibilities in the body of Christ.

But also, you did click to read this particular article because something prompted you.

Pray, and ask the Father: is this for me?

I edit books for a living and two of my Christian authors have contacted me in the past few days to say that they are not cancelling their book launches because they believe God wants their books out there. One is even bringing the launch forward!

These interactions, which occurred quite independently of my experience at that conference and without any prompting from me, tell me that it’s not just Belinda having ideas – it’s a move of God’s Spirit among the creatives and the “craftsmen”.

He has a job for us.

A disclaimer

My change of direction has not magically removed every trace of fear and distraction from my life, nor given me any guarantee that I or my loved ones will not suffer in months to come.

I don’t follow a Santa Claus who grants my every wish; I follow a crucified Saviour.

Please, don’t expect gracewriting during the pandemic to be a magical solution to your stress.

But… a sense of purpose in times of crisis is one of God’s best gifts.

If he is calling you to gracewrite through the crisis, then that is the best thing you could possibly do.

What should you do next?

These are what I’m working on. Consider them, pray, and make your own choices.

1. Be kind to yourself

Many of us are confused, anxious, exhausted and grieving. If you are having trouble concentrating, please don’t berate yourself. Try some of these physical remedies, which have been beautifully designed by God:

• Sleep – try for a good 8 hours per day if possible, even if some of that is in naps. Sleep is a very good gift from God, which heals both body and mind. “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:2, ESV)
• Eat healthy if you possibly can. I realise there are constraints for many of us (financial and/or issues of supply), but eating nutritious food such as fruit and vegetables as much as possible, and avoiding junk food as much as possible, changes the body and brain chemistry to strengthen our God-designed coping mechanisms.
• Exercise as much as your health and confinement allow, even just walking around your house, or outdoors if you’re allowed to, or joining online exercise classes. Exercise changes body and brain chemistry, too. God designed our bodies to work best when they move.
• Bonus: did you know that looking after your body and mind increases immunity, too??

2. Limit your consumption of news and social media

I’ve tried to restrict mine to twice per day. I need to look because I do need to know when the isolation rules change. (I’m in Australia and the situation is changing fast here this week.) But I find that reading too much of it drags me down into the pits and away from my purpose.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV)

3. Pray

• Pray for yourself,
  for your loved ones,
  for the world, other countries,
  for governments and leaders and medical workers and supermarket staff.
  Pray for and about everything!
  Pray when you walk and when you sit,
  when you are washing your hands,
  patting the dog, cat or other pet,
  driving the car,
  queuing 1.5 metres behind someone (pray for that someone, maybe?).
• Try telling God out loud exactly how you feel. He knows anyway, so why try to hide it? The psalms can be quite strident and not always completely polite, so there is good precedent for honest prayer.
• Give thanks for big and little things, as often as you can. Science has discovered that gratitude changes brain chemistry and strengthens our coping mechanisms, but God already knew that, because he designed it. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)
• Journal your thoughts and prayers. Sometimes the act of handwriting helps get the thoughts outside of our heads onto paper where we can untangle them. It can also help to stop the endless thought-cycling.
• If your prayers are scattered sometimes, that’s okay. “For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14 NIV) God loves us and loves to hear from us anyway. Which is pretty amazing.
• Pray about your Gracewriting. Maybe something as simple as this: “Dear Lord, do you have a particular task for me with my writing? If you do, please show me what it is, and give me the strength and opportunities and ideas and resources to do it.”
• The enemy does not want God to turn this disaster into something good. Make a project of strengthening your spiritual armour. Perhaps you could pray through Ephesians 6:10-20 every day?

4. Read the Bible, lots of it

Read it like a book, not just little snippets. If you’re not sure where to start, maybe try some of these:

• Stories of people overcoming through times of great personal and national trauma, such as Joseph (Genesis 37 onwards), Gideon (Judges 7-8) and Deborah (Judges 4-5), Esther, Daniel.
• Stirring prophecy such as Zechariah and Isaiah.
• The psalms.
• The Gospels.

5. Connect

Many of us are stuck at home now, or soon will be. But if you’re reading this, it means you have internet!

• Find another Christian writer to buddy with. Meet them for coffee, using Skype or Zoom or some other online meeting platform, to talk about possibilities and ideas and to pray together.
• Look for opportunities in various online settings to encourage others, especially other Gracewriters.

Important

Updated 24 April…We now have two CONNECTIONS running for Gracewriters:

1. Zoom catch-ups once a month, on Saturday mornings (Brisbane time – Friday night USA).

2. A private community where we can learn, share prayer points, and discuss issues that matter to us.

To receive the links to both the Zoom meeting and the private community, please subscribe to the Gracewriters blog.

We are sharing the links only with subscribers at present to help limit issues with disruptors. 🙂 Participation is *always* optional and you can unsubscribe easily at any time.

Edited 24 June: We now have a Gracewriters Podcast where we discuss some of the issues confronting Christians who write to change popular culture.

6. Gracewrite!

If you are called to write, write.

Whether you write strongly, purposefully, confidently,
falteringly, fumblingly, hesitantly,
in great oceans of suddenly-spare time,
or short snatches between disruptions from the kids or work or responsibilities,
in sickness or in health.

Write, and find your calling and your unique contribution.

Write the gracenotes our world needs right now.

Come on in and let’s fight this battle together. There are great things in this strange new world, and we serve a huge God.

Please help me get the word out, and share this article with other Christian writers – by email or on social media.