Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Melissa Noblin

Becoming What God Created Me to Be

By Melissa Noblin

I recently attended the Blueridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. While there, my son (a published author) encouraged me to pitch my devotional book, “From Food Stamps to the Banquet Table,” to one of the publishers in attendance. Much to my shock and awe, they loved it and are publishing it in the fall of 2025, if I ever finish it.

Prior to attending the conference, I was writing all the time and was really making incredible progress. But then everything suddenly became real, my book was going to be published.

Somehow, writing and thinking that someday I might get published was like being on an adventure or a treasure hunt. The writing seemed to just flow.

But all of a sudden, reality struck. Every thought that I had was negative, they ran rampant. I had thoughts like, “I’m not ready,” “I should have waited,” and “You are no author…you are a tenth-grade dropout.” I was giving up before I had even begun.

When I spoke with my publisher she said, “Oh, that’s imposter syndrome.” She attempted to help and suggested I join a small coaching group, which made me feel even more out of my league.

I shut down. I stopped checking my email, avoided thinking about my book, and busied myself with other things. And worst of all, I stopped writing altogether. This seemed too big for me, too lofty an idea. I felt like I belonged back in the food stamp line.

But walking away brought me no peace. Because God wasn’t done with me. I realized He was just

Pixabay/Daniel Reche

getting started. He had given me the title of my book almost 25 years ago. It belongs to Him, and He wants to use it to minister to others and glorify Himself. Who was I to walk away from that!?!

As I write this I am weeping, because this blog post is the first thing I have written since then. I had forgotten that I signed up for it and then I received a reminder email from Ms. Matchett. I reviewed the interview questions and thought “Oh, see, even this isn’t for someone like me”. “It’s for published fiction writers.”

I desperately wanted a reason not to write, so I replied, “Thanks for the opportunity, but I am neither a published nor a fiction writer.” I quickly hit send and walked away from the computer. Much to my surprise and almost as quickly, Ms. Matchett responded and said, “You don’t have to be either of those things.” I realized, in that moment, this was God’s way of showing me that He wanted me to start writing again.

This was God’s way of saying, “An imposter is someone who pretends to be something they are not. An imposter is not someone who is becoming what I created them to be.” I was reminded of Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

I am not seasoned enough to know for sure, but from what I understand many authors suffer from imposter syndrome. But, God has shown me that we are not pretending to be something we are not. As followers of Christ, we are each a child of God, who (even at 60 ; ) are becoming what He has created us to be. And, when imposter syndrome, fear, anxiety, etc. affect our writing…the one who called us to write draws us back and will bless our obedience when we submit.