God Loves Me More Than That

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by Fay Lamb

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

Life verses-they abound, and Jeremiah 29:11 is among the most quoted. As an author who feels that God has called me to write, I cling to verses such as this. For me, they prove that God’s love is a blanket of warmth against the coldness of a sometimes harsh reality.

The writer’s life is like a roller coaster with moments of high exhilaration and days of deep despair. Times when all is right with the world, and then there are those occasions when a writer wants to crawl into a cave and hide from the very world where before all was bright and sunny.

God says in Jeremiah 29:11 that He knows the thoughts He has toward me. He declares those thoughts are kind and not evil, and He wants to give me a future of hope. When I meditate on this verse, I imagine this is God’s way of saying, “Daughter, I have a plan for you. Trust and obey.”

Often I hold my hand out to God, asking Him to lead me toward a writing contract, an encounter with someone, even an idea to build a story. Like a child, I want my prayers answered easily and immediately.

But God loves me more than that.

I do not like rejection, but is it truly rejection when God has designed the plan and I am walking in obedience to Him? No, it’s a step. I must trust God and move forward even when the path is rough and harrowing.

I do not like to be unsettled in my spirit, yet criticism has a way of doing that. Truth given in love, however, is one of a writer’s most valuable assets. The sting at first may leave me uncomfortable, but when I come to terms with it and take the suggested steps to improve my writing, my spirit is filled with the peace that God promises.

When I start out on a trip, I am the one who likes to know every stop along the way. Trust and obey means that I trust God when he doesn’t tell me each leg of my journey. My life as an author may take unexpected turns.

I have purposed in my heart to remain content with any direction God purposes in my writing career. In fact, I’ll be satisfied on whatever road He places me. My future hopes rest in Him and not in my desires, and God has promised a future better than any I can dream.


Fay Lamb works as an acquisition/copyeditor for Pelican Book Group (White Rose Publishing and Harbourlight Books), offers her services as a freelance editor, and is an author of Christian romance and romantic suspense. Her emotionally charged stories remind the reader that God is always in the details. Because of Me, her debut romantic suspense novel will be released on February 3, 2012, by Treble Heart Books/Mountainview Publishing.

Fay has a passion for working with and encouraging fellow writers. As a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), she co-moderates the large Scribes’ Critique Group and manages the smaller Scribes’ critique groups. For her efforts, she was the recipient of the ACFW Members Service Award in 2010.

In 2012, Fay was also elected to serve as secretary on ACFW’s Operating Board.

Fay and her husband, Marc, reside in Titusville, Florida, where multi-generations of their families have lived. The legacy continues with their two married sons and five grandchildren.

Comments 0

  1. Thanks Fay!
    Your encouragement and personal testimony remind me and others of His unfailing love for us, and His desire for our obedience.

    Jeremiah 29:11 is a great verse to stand on. I like the Amplified version of Romans 11:29: “For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.” [He never withdraws them when once they are given and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]

    If He doesn’t change His mind about my purpose, then I shouldn’t let any discouragement I might feel on those “despair” days change mine.

  2. Yep, trusting in the Lord can be hard.

    But remembering that He sees beyond the horizon and we only see to the horizon helps me let go and trust.

    It took me years to do this, though. Lol!

    Great post. Thanks for your honesty.

    ~Ruth

  3. Fay, your words about a writer’s life being a roller coaster of exhilaration and despair is so true. And being unsettled by criticism ? oh, yes! Your decision to follow the path God has for you is a great encouragement to me. Sometimes one can feel as though one is left high and dry on the beach when the wave recedes into the ocean ? asking oneself ‘was I meant to be a freelance editor; am I right to be writing’. It’s so easy to get ones eyes off God. Reminds me of the injunction to “seek first His kingdom and all these things will be added unto you.”

  4. Thanks for sharing. I’m reminded that while I don’t know every leg of the journey, that once he’s given me the direction to go, I need to just keep on going until he gives new instructions.

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