Do you have to be called to write?

I recently asked my blog readers for interview question suggestions to include in the back of my next novel, Bound by Guilt. One person asked me this: "Do you view your writing as a calling from God? If so, how did you come to understand calling? Do you think you have to have a calling to write Christian based novels?"

What a great question! I want to try and answer it here.

Yes, I do view my writing as a calling from God, but for many years I didn't know for sure he was calling me to it. As I've thought about it, I realized God places dreams in our hearts as children for a reason. I always loved to read and write little stories as a kid. I didn't think it was anything more than playing around until later. But God knew. When we grow up, lots of times we let those childhood dreams fade for various reasons. I bet if all of us would think back to our growing up years and remember what it was we loved as children, and then tried to actually do some of those things as adults, we would find ourselves in a much happier place.

That's how I came to understand callings. By finally realizing my dreams were from Him. It doesn't mean everything's been easy, mind you. But now I have something to fall back on. I can know, yeah, he put those there. I need to pursue them.

But here's the thing. Do I think you have to have a specific calling to write Christian based novels? Let me put it this way: Do we have to have a specific calling to go out and share the Lord with our neighbor? No, because God has already commissioned every one of us to go into all the world and share the gospel. True, some are called to a more specific type of evangelistic ministry like standing behind a pulpit, but we're all called to share. The same could apply to writing. If you use your writing as a means to share Christian truths and principles, then you're fulfilling God's greatest calling right there.

I think if you have a desire to write, that's a good clue God wants you to pursue it. You don't have to have some lightning strike moment to know. I didn't.