by Ane Mulligan  @AneMulligan

Everyone wants to belong. When we’re young and in school, belonging to the popular crowd is the ultimate prize. To an athlete, it’s breaking a record. And to the employee, the president’s inner circle is the goal.

It’s a struggle.

For a writer, belonging to the best critique group, signing with the best agent, getting the best contract with the biggest publisher, becoming a best-selling author are all things we strive for.

Those are all worthy goals, but in our pursuit have we have forgotten to ask God where he wants us. What is his plan for me?

What if his plan for you is to reach a select few people? What if you are the only one whose words will penetrate their hearts? What if big sales numbers aren’t in his plan for you? But what if one of those select people breaks through whatever is holding them back because of your story? And what if they end up doing great things for God?

Being content with what God has for us can be a struggle. When you see author friends become a New York Times bestselling author it’s hard not to envy them. Yet … we’re told not to envy.

It’s a struggle.

I’ve struggled with the envy, wishing I could be a New York Times bestselling author – a Christy Award winner – the envy of others.

WHOA—WAIT! I don’t want to cause others to envy me. What I need to do is stop and think why do I envy them?

It’s a struggle.

A struggle to be content with what God has for me. As I pondered that, I realized God called me to ministry as an author. And that is what I need to concentrate on—writing the best books I can. The rest is up to him.

So I asked myself how would I handle something like NYT Bestselling status? Would I become enamored with the money? Would that become my goal? Would I become puffed up with conceit? Would I begin to think I did it alone?

It’s a struggle.

Since God knows me best, I’m going to write the best novel I can, do my part in marketing, and leave the results up to him. If I desire anything, I pray that the people I’m supposed to reach are touched and changed for God’s glory—not mine.

Ane Mulligan lives life from a director’s chair, both in theatre and at her desk, creating novels. Entranced with story by age three, at five, she saw PETER PAN onstage and was struck with a fever from which she never recovered—stage fever. One day, her passions collided, and an award-winning, bestselling novelist emerged. She believes chocolate and coffee are two of the four major food groups and lives in Sugar Hill, GA, with her artist husband and a rascally Rottweiler. Find Ane on her website, Amazon Author page, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, The Write Conversation, and Blue Ridge Conference Blog.