When I was writing my first book, I’ll bet I had this thought a thousand times:
“Maybe I’m just not capable of writing a book.”
There were parts of the process that were so unfamiliar, frustrating, and
disorienting to me, that I often wondered whether I had what it took to finish the job.
After all, I’d never done it before.
Right now, I’m in the process of editing my second book.
In some ways, it’s just as hard, if not harder, than it was the first time around.
But you know what?
I haven’t had the thought-not one single time-
“Maybe I’m just not capable of writing a book.”
Because I’ve done it once.
I’ve written a book before.
And that makes me an author, from this point forward.
There’s a lot of power in doing something once.
Once you’ve done it once, it gives you a sense of confidence:
“I can do this again.”
Like the first time I fasted, I thought I might die.
But after I’d done it once, I realized:
“With God’s help, I really can do this.”
And I’ve fasted many more times, for greater lengths of time, since then.
Once you’ve survived through a certain trial once, you realize it doesn’t have the power to stop your destiny, no matter how severe the trial may be.
Once you’ve given to God generously once, you discover that He truly will supply all your needs, and you can trust Him in increasing measure in the future.
Once you’ve lost something you thought you couldn’t live without, only to find that God Himself will sustain you, it gives you faith to move forward after the next setback. And the next, and the next.
Obedience to God can seem impossible, on the surface, in certain situations.
But once you’ve done it once, you can learn to see through that lie every time.
