"For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." — Psalm 139:13-16 (ESV)
Have you ever sat in front of a blank page, cursor blinking at you mockingly, and wondered if you really have anything unique to offer the literary world? Have you ever read another author's work and thought, "I'll never write anything that good—what's the point of even trying?"
If you've ever felt this way, you're not alone. And more importantly, you're believing a lie.
Today, we're diving deep into one of the most profound truths about our identity as writers: we are fearfully and wonderfully made by the ultimate Designer, and that design includes the unique writing voice He's placed within us.
God as the Ultimate Designer
Before we examine our own calling as writers, we need to understand something fundamental about God's nature: He is the ultimate Designer, and everything He creates is intentional.
The Hebrew word for "formed" in verse 13 is qanah (Strong's H7069), which carries the meaning of acquiring, purchasing, or possessing with purpose—often implying ownership and intentional selection. Some translations render this as "You created my inward parts," which gives us an even more profound picture: God as Creator, creating us to be creative. This isn't random assembly—this is deliberate acquisition and creation work. When God formed and created you, He wasn't experimenting or hoping for the best. He was purposefully acquiring, possessing, and creating something specific, something that had never existed before and never would again.
Think about that for a moment. The God who designed the intricate patterns of snowflakes, who painted sunsets with colors we don't even have names for, who orchestrated the complex symphony of ecosystems—this same God took deliberate care in designing you. Your mind, your perspective, your experiences, your writing voice—all of it was intentionally woven together by the Master Designer.
This means your writing voice isn't an accident. It's not a consolation prize or a backup plan. It's part of God's intentional design for your life.
When you sit down to write that story, craft that devotional, or pen that article, you're not working from a deficit. You're working from a place of divine intentionality. The very perspective that makes you feel "different" from other writers? That's not a bug in your system—it's a feature God specifically designed.
Celebrating the Uniqueness of Our Writing Voice
The phrase "fearfully and wonderfully made" in Hebrew carries the connotation of being made with reverent care and being distinguished or set apart. You weren't mass-produced. You were handcrafted.
This has profound implications for how we view our writing. Too often, we fall into the trap of trying to write like someone else, mimic another author's style, or build a platform like someone else. We see another writer's success and think, "If I could just replicate their formula..."
But what if God didn't design you to be the next [insert famous author here]? What if He designed you to be the first and only you?
Your unique writing voice is comprised of so many elements that could only come together in you. Your lived experiences—the joys that have made you laugh until your sides hurt, the heartbreaks that have left you gasping for air, the mundane Tuesday afternoons that somehow hold profound beauty, and the extraordinary events that shifted your entire worldview—all of these shape how you see and interpret the world around you. They become the lens through which you filter every story you tell.
Your cultural background weaves itself through every sentence you write, informing your worldview and storytelling in ways you might not even realize. The traditions that shaped your childhood, the values that were spoken and unspoken in your family, the perspectives that come from your particular place in this world—these aren't limitations on your writing, they're the unique seasoning that makes your voice distinctly yours.
Your personality colors every character you create and every scene you craft. Whether you're naturally optimistic and see hope in the darkest circumstances, or you tend toward melancholy and find beauty in life's sorrows, whether you're detail-oriented and notice the way light falls across a character's face, or you're big-picture focused and excel at sweeping narrative arcs—all of this flows into your writing voice.
Your spiritual journey becomes the undercurrent of everything you write, whether you're crafting explicitly Christian fiction or stories that simply reflect the way faith has shaped your understanding of truth, love, and redemption. How you've encountered God, the seasons you've wrestled with doubt, the moments of breakthrough, and the long stretches of faithful waiting—all of this informs the spiritual depth and authenticity in your work.
Your natural writing gifting reveals itself in what energizes you as you write. Maybe dialogue flows from your fingers like water, capturing the rhythm and cadence of real human conversation. Maybe you excel at description, painting scenes so vivid that readers feel transported. Maybe plot structure comes naturally to you, or perhaps character development is where you shine. Maybe you have a gift for humor, or for handling difficult themes with grace and sensitivity.
And then there are your genre passions—the types of stories that set your heart on fire and make you lose track of time as you write. Whether that's the emotional journey of contemporary romance, the puzzle-solving satisfaction of mystery, the world-building wonder of fantasy, or the deep introspection of literary fiction, your natural affinity for certain types of stories is part of what makes your voice unique.
When God "intricately wove you in the depths of the earth," He was creating something that had never existed before. Your writing voice is as unique as your fingerprint, and it's meant to be celebrated, not hidden or apologized for.
I think about writers like Madeleine L'Engle, whose background in science informed her faith-based fantasy. Or Langston Hughes, whose experience as a Black man in America gave his poetry its distinctive rhythm and power. Or C.S. Lewis, whose journey from atheism to Christianity colored everything he wrote with wonder at grace.
None of these writers succeeded because they tried to sound like someone else. They succeeded because they learned to celebrate and lean into what made their writing voice uniquely theirs.
What makes your writing voice unique? What combination of experiences, perspectives, and passions could only come together in you? These aren't obstacles to overcome—they're gifts to celebrate.
Trusting God's Design for Our Writing Journey
Here's where it gets challenging, though. Trusting God's design for our writing journey means trusting that the path He has for us is good, even when it doesn't look like what we expected.
Verse 16 tells us that "in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me." This includes our writing journey—the manuscripts that come easily and the ones that feel impossible, the seasons of productivity and the seasons of rest, the moments of recognition and the years of faithful, unseen work.
Trusting God's design for our writing journey is both beautiful and challenging. It requires us to believe that His path for us is good even when it doesn't match our expectations, and it asks us to surrender our timeline, our process, our provision, and even our understanding of purpose to His greater plan.
Trusting His timing means believing that maybe you're watching other writers publish their fifth book while you're still working on your first for a reason. Maybe you've been writing for years without the recognition you hoped for because God has different plans. Maybe you started writing later in life and feel like you're behind, but God's timeline for your writing journey is not a mistake. He's not looking at His watch, thinking, "Oh no, we need to hurry this up." Your writing journey is unfolding exactly as He designed it to.
Trusting His process means accepting that sometimes the path to our writing calling involves unexpected detours. Maybe you thought you'd be writing literary fiction, but you find yourself drawn to middle-grade fantasy. Maybe you planned to focus on novels, but God keeps bringing opportunities to write for magazines. Maybe you're discovering genres you didn't know you had a passion for. Trust that God's process of developing your writing voice might not look like what you expected, but it will be exactly what you need.
Trusting His provision is perhaps the hardest one, because it means believing that God will provide what you need for the writing work He's called you to. Sometimes that provision comes in unexpected forms—a day job that gives you material to write about, a season of waiting that develops your character, a rejection that redirects you toward a better opportunity. God's provision for our writing calling doesn't always look like the publishing contract or the bestseller list, but it will always be exactly what we need for His purposes.
Trusting His purpose might be the biggest trust issue we face as faith-based writers because it means trusting that God's purpose for our writing is good, even if we can't see the full picture. Maybe He's calling you to write the book that will encourage one reader through their darkest season. Maybe He's asking you to craft the story that will help someone see beauty in their broken places. Maybe your writing is meant to be worship, offered back to God, whether or not it ever reaches a wide audience.
Living from This Truth as Writers
So how do we live as writers who are fearfully and wonderfully made? How do we write from this place of divine intentionality?
We stop apologizing for our writing voice. We stop prefacing our work with disclaimers about why it might not be good enough. We stop trying to write like someone else or mimic another author's style. We lean into what makes our voice distinctive.
We approach our writing as worship. When we understand that our writing voice is part of God's intentional design, our writing becomes an act of stewardship. We're not just trying to entertain or even minister to others—we're offering back to God the gifts He placed within us.
We rest in His sovereignty over our writing journey. We stop striving and start trusting. We write with excellence and dedication, but we hold our outcomes with open hands, knowing that God's plan for our writing is better than anything we could orchestrate ourselves.
We celebrate other writers without feeling threatened. When we know that God made us unique on purpose, we can celebrate other writers' success without feeling diminished. Their success doesn't take anything away from what God has planned for our writing journey.
For This Week
As we close, I want to invite you to spend some time this week really meditating on Psalm 139:13-16. Read it slowly. Sit with the reality that the God who designed galaxies took specific care in designing you—including your writing voice.
Ask yourself:
What aspects of my writing voice do I try to hide or apologize for?
How might God want to use the unique combination of experiences and perspectives He's given me in my writing?
Where am I trying to write like someone else instead of celebrating who He made me to be?
What would it look like to write from a place of trust in His design rather than from insecurity or comparison?
Remember, beloved writer: you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your writing voice matters. The world needs the stories only you can tell.
Trust the Designer. He knows what He's doing.
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