By Alycia Morales @AlyciaMorales

Do you remember when God called you to write?

I do. We’d recently moved the second time in a series of six moves. My husband’s construction career had us traveling between national projects. We’d arrived in Aiken, South Carolina. My grandfather had just passed. Between the move and traveling for the funeral, we were broke.

We couldn’t afford internet service for three months. I’d recently started a blog and an Etsy shop. Enter my mid-life crisis and the one and only panic attack I’ve ever experienced. I felt like I was losing my mind.

One sunny afternoon, as I folded laundry and talked with God, I begged Him for something to do that only He and I were involved in. I’d been serving my husband, our five children, and our local church for the past ten years. I wanted one thing that was mine alone … with God.

It’s that afternoon I distinctly heard Him call me to write. Now that I had internet service, I searched “Christian Writers.” Number four on the first page of search results? “Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.” After discovering that Black Mountain, NC was a drivable distance from Aiken, SC, I immediately registered.

The rest is history.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;

Before you were born I sanctified you;

I ordained you a [writer] to the nations.”

I’ve been writing since I learned how to draw my ABCs. I received my first diary at age eight as a Christmas gift. I think Ziggy was on the cover. Might have been Garfield. I started writing poetry in middle school. English was my favorite class at school. Reading has been my favorite pastime since I was read to as a toddler. Before the Lord formed me in my mother’s womb, He knew I would love these activities. Before I was born, He set me apart for His purposes—to write to the nations (i.e. people).

If you know you’ve been called to write and/or speak, God has ordained you to do so.

Then said I:

“Ah, Lord God!

Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

Have you ever challenged God regarding your writing? Have you ever told Him you don’t have enough experience to take that step of faith? You don’t know enough of the right people to get that book published? You’re too young? Too old? You don’t have enough knowledge to even know how to write? You’re not good enough?

Do you think any of those things can stop God’s will? Are you and your insecurities bigger than Him and His abilities? Hebrews 13:20-21 informs us He “make[s] you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” God’s calling on your life isn’t about you. It’s about bringing Him glory.

But the Lord said to me:

“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’

For you shall go to all to whom I send you,

And whatever I command you, you shall speak.”

I think part of our problem is that we try to take our words into our own hands, rather than following Jesus’ example. “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (John 12:49-50). God told Jeremiah to speak whatever He commanded him to say. What has God told you to say?

Also, keep John 7:18 in mind: “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true; and no unrighteousness is in Him.”

“Do not be afraid of their faces,

For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.

I understand stage fright. The anxiety that comes with putting yourself out there. The fear of what others may think, how they may react, what they may say about me. I suffered the lies and twisted words of my peers as a child and into my teens. I’ve believed I have nothing worth saying. I’ve allowed the enemy of my soul to silence my voice.

Thankfully, God also put discernment in me when He formed me. I knew who I was in Him and that their words—although hurtful—would not harm me. The fiery darts of the enemy would not stick. I am a beloved child of God. So are you. He has things for me to say. He has things for you to say. We cannot allow the enemy to steal our voices!

Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me:

“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,

To root out and pull down,

To destroy and throw down,

To build and to plant.”

There is purpose in our calling as writers and speakers.

There are nations and kingdoms here on earth that God has a plan and a purpose for. Each of us has a sphere of influence—people whose lives intersect with ours. Nations we interact with on a regular basis. We carry the kingdom of God to the kingdoms we are called to influence for His glory on earth. (See Luke 10:1-12)

And in that, we are called to write and speak His Truth. The only Truth. God’s Word. By being obedient to using the words we write and speak for His glory, we are enabled through His power and authority to root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down the lies of the enemy who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy those in our nations and kingdoms. We are also enabled to build and to plant, bringing freedom and life to those who receive the words God has given us to write and speak.

I don’t know about you, but that excites me. I’m ready to write! Are you?

All verses are from the NKJV. See Jeremiah 1:4-10.

Alycia Morales is a freelance editor and writer. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines and several compilation books. Thanks to her mad editing skills, her clients have won multiple awards in several national contests. In addition, she’s the prior Conference Assistant for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Alycia is currently working on a nonfiction project while characters are running around in her mind waiting to be released into children’s books and YA fantasy novels. Surviving the Year of Firsts: A Mom’s Guide to Grieving Child Loss will release on July 30, 2024.

When she isn’t busy writing, editing, and reading, Alycia enjoys spending time with her husband taking hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Carolinas or running off to the beach with friends. She loves coffee, sweet tea, crafting, and watching crime shows.

Alycia can be found at alyciawmorales.com. She hangs out on Facebook and Instagram.