Let’s fly back in time to October of 2014.
I remember it like it was yesterday. Kristen and I were standing in a hotel Starbucks waiting to meet the one and only Erin Davis. (She’s the amazing gal who runs the LYWB Blog).
I’d been interacting with Erin for several years via email but had never met her in person. I was so excited to finally meet face to face and have the opportunity to pick Erin’s brain about blogging, book writing, and getting published.
In my mind, she was (and still is) the pro. I was (and still feel like) the newbie who was hoping to glean any wisdom she had to offer.
She was like the celebrity, and I was like the fangirl.
The moment arrived, and I finally met Erin. She was just as sweet and bubbly as I’d imagined. Everything about our Starbucks conversation was going fabulously. Then we hit a speed bump. After Kristen and I shared our dreams and hopes for the future, Erin sweetly and thoughtfully responded.
Her advice went something like this, “You need to work hard. Do your best. And then leave the results up to God. Don’t force God’s timing. Let Him create the opportunities. Let Him be the one to make things happen. You just need to be faithful, and He will take care of the rest.”
My face had a smile that hid what I was really feeling on the inside.
On the inside I was thinking, Easy for you to say! You’ve had over a dozen books published. You already have a platform. You already have a million connections with publishing companies. It’s easy for you to trust in God’s timing. Me? I don’t have any of that. I’m a newbie. How in the world am I supposed to get a publishing contract? This advice isn’t helpful!
I wanted Erin to give me a 1-2-3 guaranteed step-by-step system to follow. I didn’t want her telling me to “work hard and leave the results up to God.”
I left that conversation excited and discouraged all at the same time.
I wondered how a situation that seemed impossible—becoming a published author—would ever become a reality.
(Hey girls, Erin here. Excuse me while I interrupt this blog post. I remember that Starbucks meeting just as fondly as Bethany, and I know what it’s like to have that sinking feeling when you realize that trusting God’s timing means giving up control. I don’t have a million publishing connections, and it’s still not always easy to trust in God’s timing. But I do know He’s trustworthy, whether I choose to rest in that or not. Back to Bethany . . .)
God Did the Impossible.
Thankfully, God taught me to do exactly what Erin advised, “work hard and leave the results up to Him.”
Over the next two months Kristen and I worked like crazy to prepare a book proposal to submit to a literary agent. We had no idea how we would secure an agent or get our proposal seen by a publisher, but we worked hard and trusted that God would make it happen if He wanted to.
Then God did the impossible!
In November of 2014, less than a month after my coffee talk with Erin, Kristen and I received an email from a publisher asking if the two of us would be interested in writing a book.
My mind was officially blown. Truly “nothing is impossible with God.“
That book offer became Girl Defined: God’s Radical Design for Beauty, Femininity, and Identity. You can pick up your very own copy here!
God used that incredible experience to strengthen my faith. I learned to trust that God can do whatever He wants. He is not limited by human standards. If He wants something to happen, it will happen.
Our job is to simply (as Erin so beautifully said), “Work hard. Do your best. And then leave the results up to God.”
I strongly encourage you to take her advice and apply it to your own life.
Work hard, do your best, and then leave the results up to God. Relax knowing that If God wants something to happen, He will make it happen. We don’t have to force it.
I love the way Psalm 8:3–4 reminds us of how great our God is.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
The next time you are faced with an impossible situation, remember how big God is. Remember that He can do the impossible. Trust that He will accomplish His perfect will in your life.
Imagine we are having a coffee shop conversation. I’d love to know:
- Is there a certain area in your life where you need to trust God? What is it?
- Are you willing to leave the results in His hands?
