Trust: The firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something.

Trust is a commodity every writer must learn to trade. After you've lived through the painstaking work of writing an entire manuscript, there's a fair amount of wheeling and dealing in the ol' trust market. You must:

• Trust your story idea is valid.
• Trust your agent is knocking on all the possible publishing doors to find your book a house.
• Trust your editor will buff and shine your manuscript better than the local car wash.
• Trust that readers will understand the overarching theme of your novel.

Putting your trust in these things, while necessary, still leaves a writer with a whole lot of angst. Why? Because any one of the items on the list can be a weak link. If one snaps, your manuscript, or even your whole career, can crash. So what's a writer to do other than pop Prozac like M&Ms?

I advocate that you don't trust your story, your agent, your editor, or readers. Shoot, you can't even trust yourself. Humans, by their very nature, are the weakest links.

Good news, though. There is One who is trustworthy. One who looks out for your best interests. One who is ultimately in charge of your writing career and is for you, not against you. In the book of Psalms alone, trust is mentioned 44 times...and it's all directed toward God.

And believe me, there is NOTHING weak about Him.