by: Shannon Redmon @shannon_redmon

“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” Proverbs 4:18 (NASB)

When light dawns over my mountain home in Western North Carolina, the sun doesn’t pop up all at once—bright and ready like in some other locales. The warming star rises a bit slower and weakens the night sky, inching into early morning hours as a plethora of colors, sure to make an accomplished painter envious of the hues. Strokes of pink, orange, and red streak the sky, beckoning anyone willing to leave the comfort of fluffy duvets and padded mattresses to peer out the window with coffee cup in hand. 

Then the perfect moment comes. The sun emerges from behind the dark rock faces of the mountains and distributes its light across unlevel topography, stretching rays and shadows across the land into the welcoming arms of a new day. 

As writers, God’s word tells us we are a dawning light. We might start off slow in our journey, unsteady and unsure how to navigate the path ahead. Maybe we’re unpublished or unagented but hold tight to an undeniable mission to walk this path with the One who called us. We shine more and more with every word, every blog, every story until one day God’s light and truth emerge into a dark world, turning others to his warmth and love. 

Our priority is to be obedient. To continue to learn and perfect our craft by reading books, taking courses, continuing to write and submit our stories for publication—no matter how many rejections we receive or criticisms we incur. 

In Jesus, we are a city on a hill, drawing those to God who are willing to seek him first and surrender. His stirring inside our souls to craft ideas and deliver the words he provides should encourage us. Whether we are published or not, God knows the heart of the readers looking for the words he has given you. He will make sure his story message will get into the hands of those who need to read what we’ve written. 

When we let doubt and fear creep into our thoughts and discourage our efforts, we must remember what this world would be like without His dawning light. Hope would be gone. Peace wouldn’t exist and love would harden into hate. These sad thoughts should spur us forward, determine our minds, and motivate us to crawl out from under the warm covers to view the beautiful sunrise He places in the sky. 

So, writer friend, stay on the path, don’t give up and continue to shine brighter and brighter every day. 

Shannon is a Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and her greatest hope is for her stories to immerse readers into a world of suspense and escape while encouraging faith, hope, and love in Christ.  She has three books published by Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line–Cave of
Secrets, Secrets Left Behind and Mistaken Mountain Abduction. She is also one of the Managing Editors of Acquisitions for Spark Flash Fiction Magazine, where she received her first official published byline. Shannon is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube
Agency.