I’ve had great fun with my book being published, and God has blessed me in the process – but he’s also kept me humble.

As you get closer to finally having a real book out there, thoughts of it becoming wildly popular do creep in now and then – at least they did with me. What if it becomes a best seller ! You could go in the bookstore and see it on the shelves right in front as you walk in the door. Amazon could declare you a “Best Selling” author. You could get rave reviews, even in the national media. You could write a book about writing your book, and it be a best seller too.

I have been realistic, and hopefully a little humble, enough that those extreme thoughts didn’t come to mind (most of them sound rather scary and bothersome), but a limited level of “wildly popular” did pop up.

I have prayed that the book would be to the glory of God and the good of His people, and it’s a sincere prayer. But, it’s also a phrase that flows easily across the lips so it shouldn’t be made without thought, which has been the case at times. And, it shouldn’t be prayed and then your mind start wandering and come out with a thought about how neat it could be for the book to be wildly popular. That has happened, too.

So, how wildly popular is it? My royalty payments from the first four weeks of sales came today, and the total was $16.52 in American dollars, plus 2 pounds, 60 pence from the UK. I won’t be retiring to the South Seas anytime soon.

I just checked Amazon to see where my sales rank. It made me smile to see I’m still in the seven digit category.  My book is ranked at 1,725,727. No national media headlines coming any time soon.

But, the reason for the royalty in pounds, is that two books sold in the United Kingdom. That’s awesome to think about. I have friends who tell me they use the book for a daily devotional. Others have read it, and bought additional copies because they want to give them to their young adult children, or their brother and father, or their Pastor and Bible Study teacher. What wonderful, and humbling, blessings.

God has a way of answering our prayers, in spite of ourselves. He can keep us humble while uplifting us. Praise the Lord!

“Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good” Psalm 135:3