You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8 (NKJV)

Have you ever read an article, book, or story that really touched your heart? Did you ever think about what had to happen for that piece to get into your hands?

I attended a Christian writers’ conference about thirty years ago, and it opened my eyes to the many steps that have to take place for a piece of writing to get published and out to the public. Realizing how long it takes to get a manuscript written (and rewritten, revised, edited, proofread), accepted, and published was downright discouraging!

But I also learned that God knows, even before He plants the idea to write something in an author’s mind, who is going to need to read what He wants that author to write. And He knows precisely when those people are going to need it. Since God knows all that, and since His timing is perfect, writers can relax! We can trust that He called us at the right time, and He gave us everything we need to fulfill His plan.

How has God called you to be His witness—to make Him known? Whatever that is, He knows all the details that need to come together to make His plans happen. And He has called you at exactly the right time to accomplish His purposes through you.

Think again about that piece you read that touched your heart. What if the author had let rejection letters or the cost of a writers’ conference or some critical comments from an editor crush her spirit so that she turned her back on God’s calling? Then the moment when God touched your heart would never have happened.

Whatever way God has chosen for you to be His witness, you have His promise to receive power from the Holy Spirit to fulfill that task.

Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors by Kathy Ide

Kathy Ide is the author of Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors and the editor/compiler for the Fiction Lover’s Devotional series. She is a professional freelance editor, director of the SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference and the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, and co-owner of the Christian Editor Network. You can read her blog on her website.