I don’t really suffer from writer’s block. I suffer from writer’s motivation. I always have tons of ideas. I don’t, however, always have the motivation to write down the ideas.
What I often suffer from, however, is God block. Think of God block in terms of writer’s block. Writer’s block is defined as “A usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing.”
Well, God block is my “usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue working in God’s Kingdom.” Basically, when God block sets in, I convince myself that I have nothing to offer God or His people. I might as well stay home.
Besides the obvious problems, God block prevents me from serving in the ways I desire. It prevents me from loving in the ways I am called to love. And in some ways, God block stifles my creativity because, instead of focusing on others, I turn inward and become self-focused.
Self-focus does not write my blog. Something else does entirely….
Being outwardly focused prevents me from writing. Selfishness finds me sitting on my rear end, wading in a pool of self-doubt, unwilling to write and unable to create.
Selflessness, on the other hand, finds me swimming laps in pools of truth, refreshed by the water and motivated to share with others (Sorry for the cheesy metaphor. It’s all I could come up with).
So, how do I break God block?
Well, there are always the stereotypical Christian-ese answers–quiet time, prayer, reading the Word. These all help, yes. I am not slamming them, either, as I do believe they should be a part of the Christian life.
For me, however, breaking God block comes down to one simple word: obedience.
I don’t necessarily like the word obedience. I find it stifling and uncomfortable. Yet, the more time I have known Jesus, the more I have realized that, if ever I want to bust out of the complacency box, I have to just do it (thank you, Nike, for your endless contributions to pop culture).
Obedience often means saying “yes” when saying “no” feels better. It means agreeing with God that He is right and He knows what He’s talking about, even when my sneaking suspicion (i.e. flesh) tells me otherwise.
God block is broken by obedience.
Obedience leads to freedom. Freedom leads to uninhibited pursuit of Christ. And, when I am unhindered in my pursuit of Christ, everything else flows easily, whether it be patience, mercy, thankfulness, or even the words on a page.
I can write because I am writing for Him, not for myself. I can write because He is worthy and I am not. I can write because, quite simply, it’s about Him, not me.
What is your “block”? What blocks you from God, if anything? What blocks you from serving, creating, or enjoying freedom?
I totally have God Block sometimes. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone.
Jon,
Hey, no problem. Glad you know you’re not the only one.
yep, i agree, it’s obedience. thanks for this.
Nicole,
Discipline and perseverance.
Besides, to be quite honest, you have folks like me who look to you for insightful nuggets of spiritual Scooby snacks.
It is not often any of us can find really real Christian bloggers who write beyond the whole ‘rainbows and puppies’ mentality.
We don’t need more of the icing; we need to eat the cake, too.
Your blog is “Nicole’s Bakery” for me.
(see what I did there? cake…bakery…yeah, it was good.)
Donald,
I truly lack discipline. It is a constant struggle. It is by the power of God that this blog gets written, truly.
I don’t have much perseverance in me either. Yet, as I have chosen to obey again and again my perseverance muscle has grown. I can lift more “discipline weights” as a result.
Okay, my working out analogy was just lame compared to your bakery one. Boo. :(
and thank you for the encouragement…once again.
How can you say you have no perseverance? Are you not a mother?
You have it. It simply chooses its own priorities.
And my bakery analogy was awesome! Yours was lame, though. On this we agree. :)
True, I forgot about motherhood. he he. Although, it’s not like I could just stop being a mom. I could send them off to daycare though and somehow I haven’t done that. So sure, I’ll give myself a little credit where credit is due.
…and no smiling on your final comment. I straight up laughed out loud!
Ohhh, dear. I feel SO God blocked right now. And I think a lot of it is my hesitance to spend time with him right now. But obedience is also a big deal. He’s laid The Lazy Christian on my heart for a few years now, and I’m so excited that I’ll be able to sit down with some publishers next month and maybe watch it come to fruition. But I’m sabotaging myself! I’m letting my fear and anxiety and negative thoughts get in the way of being obedient. I think it’s the Jerkface trying to get me down. He’s so—jerky. Argh.
So I don’t really have a response to this post, however…maybe I do.
Without realizing it, it helped me get my butt back in gear to do some reading again, and to get some writing done that was on my mind. And after struggling for a while about a topic for a new post, it was all right there in front of me the whole time. So thanks for helping to get the ball rolling again!
Two things: laziness and fear. Both in equal measure. So often I’ll read something in my quiet time, know I need to do something about it, but still just flat out ignore it. I think you’re right though, that obedience is the cure. When I decide just to suck it up and do what I know God’s calling me to do, it feels so right and so freeing. Just sometimes I’m scared of where He wants to take me!