We Are Accepted In The Beloved

From a young age I always wanted to write and be a published and well known author. When I published my first novel, Deceptio with WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers, I didn't really know anything about things like literary agents, proposals or platforms. That means I really didn't know much about publishing, period. However, publishing Deceptio did not put an end to the dream I had of being paid to publish a novel with a major publishing house. I then wrote another novel, Lost But Found. By this time I knew a little about how things worked. I had bought Michael Hyatt’s book on how to write a winning fiction proposal. I sent out proposals to several literary agents. As you would expect, I got a lot of “No’s”. Some didn't reply. In the end, near the end of last year, I finally found someone who liked what I had written and I was told that my work was going to be presented to the people in charge at the agency. I was so excited. I waited to get feedback but meanwhile I must confess I had a few dreams about how much I was going to get offered and how many copies of the book I was going to sell. When I didn't hear back by February, I sent a mail. I got a reply saying that a mail had been sent to me earlier (which I never received) saying the people in charge wanted to go in another direction. Whatever that means.

I also love the law very much and I love litigating. I love the thought of presenting my arguments in such a way that the judge agrees with my line of thinking. And I love winning. However, I felt I was in a rut at work and I felt there were no opportunities for advancement. So I wrote a few applications and sent them to some of the top law firms in my city. Most of them didn't bother to reply. Those that did sent me a mail telling me that after considering my application they didn't think I would be a fit for them. I would be the first to admit that my grades in my law school exam were not the best. So maybe my grades wouldn't look too good on their website. But I thought that the almost ten years of experience I had garnered should count for something. I guess I was wrong.

I'm not going to lie, the two instances of rejection hurt. Badly. But that is what people do, people reject us. If we let it, the rejection we get from people can hurt us and damage us for life. Rejection can make us feel small and unworthy and unlovable. Rejection can make us give up on our dreams. But you know what? Men may reject us because we don’t fit into a certain mould or we don’t fit into a certain picture they have of how they think we should be. But you know what? That’s okay. That’s life. If we are afraid of rejection and we don’t want to experience it, we will end up not living because life is full of rejection. But you know another thing? I'm thankful there’s a God who loves me and would never reject me. I'm thankful there’s a God who has accepted me warts and all. The Bible says God has accepted me in the beloved. God has accepted me, not because of anything I can or will ever do but because of what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary.  So no matter the rejection I face from men, I know God loves me.

So, has the fact that literary agents aren't breaking down my door in a bid to represent my work discouraged me? No. It has made me even more determined to succeed and get a book published by a major publisher. That’s why I'm not going to stop writing. There’s a song I love titled “More Than It Seems”. It’s by the group Kutless. There’s a verse that says, “Passing through the darkness into my own world will I, be more than when I left”. That verse has given me an idea for another novel. And when I'm done and I've written the best novel I can write, I'm going to write proposals and send to literary agents again. And I'm not going to stop till I get a 'Yes". Has the fact that some people think I don’t fit into their law firm made me doubt my abilities as a lawyer? No. Because I know that God and I make a good team. Recently, I have even begun to get leadings that maybe it’s time I and a few friends opened our own law firm.

Am I afraid of rejection? Yes. Am I afraid of failing? Yes. Then why am I going to put myself in the position of being hurt or rejected again? Because I know this is what I was born to do. To deal in words. And there’s nothing that is going to stop me fulfilling what I know to be my purpose. Not even fear. Because God loves me, he’s on my side and he’s cheering me on. And I believe like Paul said, that everything works together for our good. Even rejection.

What fear will you surmount?

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal. 

Happy New Year (And Wait On God)

Happy New Year everyone. It is my earnest prayer that this year, we will come to know God, and his power, in a more intimate way. I pray that the Spirit and life behind the Word and the Spirit of prayer and intercession will move us greatly this year.

There might be the temptation for a lot of us to look back at the year that has just ended and conclude that there is nothing to be grateful for. There were probably quite a lot of things we were believing God for (or one important thing) and we didn’t get to see it and so some of us are probably disappointed. You’re not alone. I also thought last year was the year in which I would get a literary agent who would agree to represent me and would offer me a representation contract (is that what they are called?). I thought that after a little while, the major Christian publishing houses would be breaking down my door in order to get my signature on a publishing contract. Did any of that happen? No. I wrote a lot of book proposals and I got a lot of rejection letters. There were even more literary agents who didn’t even bother replying so all I got was silence. Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I giving up? No. Why? Because I know what I believe about what God has said to me. What the whole thing has taught me is patience.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 4 that “a living dog is better than a dead lion.” As long as there is breath in our lungs, we should live in hope. Especially if we believe that we know what God has said about the particular situation we are trusting him for. I have told myself that I am going to send a book proposal to every literary agent under the sun who represents Christian writers until I find one who will represent me. I believe that I have a good story (at least one of the agents has told me she likes certain aspects of it. I have been waiting for word from her superior) so I believe that there must be someone out there who will like it and will be ready to represent me. And I believe this is the year.

So if you are thinking of quitting, thinking of giving up, let it not be today my friends. We need to keep on going because tomorrow just might be the day. We should have it always in our thoughts that God has our best interests at heart. We might not always get the things we want but he will give us the things we need. And as the Kutless song says, Even If we don’t get the things we think we should have, we should still praise and worship Him because he is worthy. Let’s stick close to Him this year. I believe there are a lot things He wants to say to us. We should not let our circumstances or situations drown out his voice.

What are things we are believing for this year?