Jesus, I, and writing Christian
Martha Olawale
“And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” Habakkuk 2:2
If you were in Church that Sunday morning at Christian Heritage Church (CHC) in Tallahassee, Florida, in 2011/2012, you’d visibly see how terrified I was to be called out by a visiting Pastor whom Pastor Ron McCants had invited to preach. I can worship unperturbed in the presence of a billion people; standing alone with the minister in the presence of a few hundred people is a different story. I was familiar with many eyes staring at me, but the situation was still uncomfortable. I had just stepped off the stage from ministering in the choir and was mortified when this man I was seeing for the first time said he wanted me to come before the entire Church to deliver a message God wanted me to hear.
I picked up my first writing pad at a very young age but didn’t know it got Heaven’s attention. While I wrote a lot in my teenage years, I thought I would be a lawyer, and journalism was my second choice. I would write about things happening around me, and I even remember the titles of my first two articles: “It is Good to Be Good” and “It is Bad to Be Bad.” Simple, because two neighbors inspired it; you guessed it, one was nice, and the other was not. I always had this unexplainable urge to write to encourage or share what I was learning through writing.
Standing in the presence of many witnesses that day at CHC made it impossible for me to shake off or forget God's assignment. I have loved my Savior and have not abandoned my love for writing. However, I didn’t know how “Writing for the Church” would fit into ‘my plans.’
While derailing to start “Stars of Afrika” in 2016, I would feel a heaviness in my heart, telling me that it wasn’t what God wanted me to do and to take my Christian writing seriously. I thought continuing to share on my social media would compensate for the restlessness, but it didn’t. To figure out how to navigate my assignment, I’d let every Church we attended know of my availability when we started, but that also had curtains limiting how the light filters through. So, I jumped on a wagon with Jesus, kept my social media deactivated, devoted most of my time to Christian writing, and eventually started “Abiding Christian.”
Knowing that the Church is a community of believers, I trust God’s order and reach out to the appropriate people at the Church. I set up meetings with pastors and leaders to ask how to serve. My usual pitch is, “I can write; don’t pay me; just let me know what you need me to do.”
The process was sometimes uncomfortable but necessary as God walked me through a truckload of training. I grew (still growing), learned (still learning), and persevered. Getting here, I have been privileged to learn from and work with some amazing Christian writers through the process. People who showed me the possibilities of using our gifts to reach the world beyond the walls and confines of our Church.
They strengthened my faith and determination to walk with God. Now, my eyes are turned heavenward, and the warrior seed planted in me by God speaks loud in how I proclaim my faith: bold, audacious, and relentless. My simple measuring scale is “If it doesn’t sound like God, it can’t stay; it got to go.” I became intentional in seeking quietness, reevaluated my priorities, and deactivated my personal social media for five years to fully focus on learning to listen without distractions. With God, I was willing to shut out any noise so He could do what He wanted in and through me. It took months to get to that point of surrender to publish weekly because the thought was daunting, but God’s grace had an unending flow I didn’t know was possible.
It’s been over twenty years since I sat in that auditorium under the voice of Pastor Myles Munroe, and “Die empty” still rings in my ears. Although it’s not been all roses and ocean breeze, God is holding my hands. Even when I don’t want to hear it, my husband will say daily, “From your home, you’ll be impacting the world for Christ.” God intends us to spread our gifts on earth, not haul them back to Him, and I still have too much inside. There might be many oppositions, but God, through guardians, continually holds me up every step of the way.
I was comfortable on my personal social media because I was familiar with my crowd. God had to shake that by using a clean slate to build “Abiding Christian.” In His usual manner of growing His children, now that I’m comfortable in my discomfort, God is moving me to another growth process of discomfort, where I will rally other Christian writers to be good stewards of their gifts.
Some of my friends from the T Circle (altar name for my life group) now write to bless the readers on the platform, too, and it’s been amazing to see God use them as He has me. It’s no longer just me; God is hunting for Christian creators to speak life to a dying world and reach the ends of the earth with the message of love, grace, and righteousness through salvation in Christ Jesus. We live in a digital age, and the Church has not fully captured these gifts and is not maximizing them for the massive demand on the mission field. God needs an army, but there are few laborers (Matthew 9:37).
Through a new initiative (a subsidiary of Abiding Christian), God will continue to grow me and other Christian writers as we allow Him to use us as He deems fit. These groups of people are different kinds of missionaries (digital missionaries) who might never step foot in a nation, yet strengthen the believers persecuted in the underground churches, encourage the weary travelers in faraway lands, and touch broken hearts while writing from a dining table. They are swift responders to emergencies and warriors of the cross. I’ve tasted God and know how He makes a masterpiece out of miry clay, and I’m excited for the next phase.
God went the extra mile to ensure I stayed on course and did not give up by sending me many witnesses; I can’t fail Him. I don’t know what seeds God has placed in you, but please nurture them and surround yourself with people who will help water and fuel the fire, not diffuse it. Even if it doesn’t look like much, don’t give up because God is committed.
This is a pulpit, and without a mic in hand, in obedience and surrender, God will continue to reach thousands of people weekly with the message of hope in Jesus and rattle those who still need Him. It didn’t start when I published the first article or was called out in front of the Church. The journey began with the willing heart of a young Christian girl living in a brown house on a street in Lagos, Nigeria.
My resolve is in God’s faithfulness, and I see it continuing until I breathe my last breath and hand the baton to whoever God wants me to. More treasures are in this mud, and I follow God’s lead. He saw something in that little heart of mine decades ago and said, “I can work with that.” I trust Him! At this stage of my life, I may still have a mile or a billion to go, but let it be that every step I take is where Jesus leads.
