To Blog or Not To Blog — That Is the Question

“Build your platform,” they say. “Start a blog,” they say. “Attract followers,” they say. “Increase the numbers,” they say.

To use a trite phrase, it’s easier said than done.

Where do you start? You may have more questions than answers.

• Guest-blogging or your own blog?
• Free website or buy your own domain?
• Predesigned theme, make your own, or find someone to do it for you?
• And finally, what to write?

Good questions. Wrong starting point.

Start by asking God if blogging is right for you. Blogging is a big commitment … maybe not a till-death-do-us-part commitment but a long-term investment of your time, talent and treasure.

Follow King Hezekiah’s example (read the whole story in 2 Kings 19):

“After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lᴏʀᴅ’s Temple and spread it out before the Lᴏʀᴅ” (2 Kings 19:14, NLT).

Envision yourself rolling out the possibilities at the feet of your heavenly Father. Ask Him to guide you. Hezekiah faced overwhelming odds. As a blogger, so will you. There are hundreds of millions of blog posts, tens of millions of bloggers, and billions of potential readers. There are lots of wildly successful blogs. Countless more abandoned blogs litter the internet highway. 

How do you find your place in the stream of internet traffic?

It’s a God-sized problem, and it calls for a God-sized answer.

Successful blogs offer consistent and high-quality content. 

• Does the message God is calling you to write fit into a blog format?
• Can you produce quality content on a regular schedule — right now and for years to come?
• Who are your readers? What kind of blog (if any) will work for them?
• How will you measure success?

Writing this, I feel imposter symptoms — who am I to give advice on blogging? Sure, I have a blog, but I’m far from what would be considered a successful blogger.

I don’t think of my blog as my platform. Like Samuel’s stone of remembrance, it is my Ebenezer: “Thus far the Lᴏʀᴅ has helped [me]” (1 Samuel 7:12, NIV). My blog helped me refine my writing style. It taught me to be a disciplined writer. It forced me to plan short and long term. Most of all, I’ve learned God has a message for every problem, every season, every day. 

God called me to blog more for me than for my readers. Still, I rejoice when a reader says my message made a difference. And I’ll never know this side of heaven who may have been touched by one of my posts.

God has a unique plan for your writing. It may not look anything like mine. It might be a blog. It might not. God doesn’t measure success by the number of subscribers and site visits. He measures it by our obedience. He measures it by changed lives (including our own).

Think it through. Don’t charge ahead blindly and ask God to bless it all later. Spend time inquiring of the Lord upfront and at every step to come. If He’s calling you to blog, He’ll show you the way.

Bless your words, bless your calling!

Shirlee Abbott

To blog or not to blog — inquire of the Lord.
Share what you’re hearing from Him.
Let us know how we can pray for you.