Seasons of Being Stuck

 

I got stuck at Chapter 8 of my book. I’ve been through stuck seasons before, so I wasn’t phased by it at first. I expected it to pass quickly. But then 1 week turned into 2. Then 2 weeks turned into 2 months. The blinking cursor began to mock me and discouragement began to set in, like maybe I would never be able to finish this thing that I started and why did I ever announce the start of it to begin with? 

Why was I having so much trouble putting into words a story that I had lived? 

The memories were there. Laying in my heart like loose papers fallen from a 1,000 stories high. So much pain and beauty mixed together that needed sorted through. 

I remember Ally Fallon saying one time at a workshop that being stuck in your writing is often reflective of being stuck in your life. It made sense to me at the time. If “rivers of living water will flow from the heart,” then the issues of the heart not being dealt with creates a blockage to the flow. 

But that was the frustrating problem. I didn’t feel stuck anywhere other than in writing my story. 

What I didn’t know at the time was there were events still waiting to happen that were necessary parts of my story. Characters to be added. The ending of the book not the ending that I originally thought. I am so deeply grateful now. 

This is what I know now about being stuck. It feels like wasted time. Like a painfully slow drift off course. Void of purpose. Like embarrassment and failure.  

But it is not wasted. 

Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes we keep ourselves in seasons of being stuck longer than we need to be. If there is a recurring theme or thought in your life, you should pay attention. Seek God about that thing and listen.   

But sometimes being stuck is about an evolving work in us. In the nitty gritty details of our story. It’s about a script still being written. With an ending better than you could have imagined.  

With patience and confidence, rest assured that it is not wasted. 

So cheers to Chapter 9 of the book. I am smiling as I write that.  

Quote Reference: John 7:38

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