The Writer and the Author

“ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27 (NIV)

I want to take a moment and share something with you. I would like to take credit for writing Never Alone, however I can’t take the full credit for this book. Yes, I sat down and wrote it out. Yes, these are my stories that come from my life. However, the words used…those came from somewhere else, or should I say, from someone else.

You see, when I first started writing this book, I originally wrote out a big plan for what I was going to include in it. I had all my chapters laid out. I was going to add all these stories, including a time when I lost my grandmother in 2010. However, as I first began writing, I realized two things. First, the words I was writing came too easily. It was like I was hearing someone tell me exactly what the chapter should say. Even when I didn’t know what the next chapter would be about or how to start it, the words would just appear. It was like I could hear them. There were times I got stuck, or I thought I was done with the book. Instead, a few days later, the words were there again. Clear as could be.

What I realized was, those words came from God. He was telling me what to write, how to write it and what to share. When I didn’t know how to start the chapter or lay it out, the words would just pop into my head. The title of the chapter is Complete Surrender. I had a difficult time coming up with what to write after that chapter. I had the desire to end with 20 chapters, but no matter how hard I tried to come up with what to write, I couldn’t. So, I made the tough decision to stop at chapter 17.

Then, after almost a week, the next chapter hit me. I knew what the title would be, what verse to look for, and what to write about. I knew what to say and how to say it. The words just flowed out of me like a river flowing out of a mountain. That was when I knew the words I had been writing were from God. God is the true author of this book. It’s because of Him I wrote it at all, because of my current cognitive deficit. It’s also how I wrote this book in 4 to 5 weeks.

The second thing I discovered is that God knew what He wanted me to write about. All those plans I had, the topics I thought I was going to write about, all of those got wiped out. All of those got removed. God had reason for me not including them. I don’t know what that reason is, but I know He had His reasons.

Never Alone is my story, but God gave me the words to say and directed my writing to talk about the topics He wanted me to write about. I think it’s important that you know this and understand this, because you need to know that God directed me. God guided me. He gave me the words to say, even when I didn’t know what to say. While I am the author, and the one who wrote the book. God had His hand in it from the start and because of that, He deserves the glory.

Finally, I don’t hear from God all the time. But I know this; I have heard God before and I know His voice. When we listen to God and when we know Him, then we will know what His voice sounds like, no matter how it comes to us. It’s just like the verse above says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

 K. M. Leffler