Wrestling Alligators
Writing is not for the timid. Each time I emerge from a writing session, exhausted, my husband asks,
“Isn’t writing something you enjoy?”
My consistent answer,
“Yes, but it feels like I just wrestled alligators!”
I probably look like it too, hair frazzled, arms limp, wondering if I really wrote anything worthwhile. What is it about the writing process that feels so fatiguing? Why does it feel like wrestling alligators? I decided to look into it.
ALLIGATORS
A group of alligators is called a congregation. Some pastors would agree.
Did you know that alligators stalk their prey in water and on land. They are twice as effective at killing in the water, but they can get you on dry land.
The strategy is to hide, partially submerged in the water, waiting for something to approach. When the prey gets too close to the edge, the alligator lunges out, grabs it in its jaws, and pulls it under the water. There it drowns the victim using the Death Roll.
The Death Roll is the finale. The alligator gains control of the prey by rolling and rolling like a log. This spinning disorients the prey. It cannot fight back and dies, broken to pieces. Alligators can’t chew or tear things apart with their teeth, so the Death Roll does the trick.
I have lived through some seasons in life that felt like an extended Death Roll!
You will often see animals in the south, approaching water timidly, aware there is danger lurking in the reeds. No one wants to become an alligator’s lunch.
WRITING & WRESTLING
A typical writing session starts with commitment and excitement. The scope of work and hours are set. I sit at my tidy workspace ready – but notice I must straighten the blinds. Then I straighten books on the shelf. I’m checking for alligators.
I sit, shuffle papers, arrange my highlighters and get ready. But there is always a distraction, a thought, a restless feeling. It’s almost as if I stand at the water’s edge sensing beady little alligator eyes.
I decide to make tea, coffee, have a bathroom break. I check my phone and throw in a load of laundry. No gators there!
Finally, I force myself to sit and stare at the screen until the typing begins.
Herein lies the mystery. The act of writing itself, ideas, sentences, paragraphs, outlines, grammar, punctuation, these are not the alligators I wrestle. In fact, once the coast is clear and I settle in, I get into the FLOW and the writing is exhilarating.
WHAT ARE THE ALLIGATORS ANYWAY?
It’s not a messy desk or crooked blinds trying to take us out as writers. No, these are just escape routes. Avoiding writing isn’t necessarily a character flaw either, it can be the restless fruit of underlying thoughts and anxious feelings prompted by the spirit of FEAR.
Before you get ruffled, let’s recall Paul’s warning to the Ephesians.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12
King James Version
We are called by God to write His thoughts to a hurting world. The principalities and powers of darkness in this fallen world want our words to cease. They want to silence the truth about God! Their dark thoughts are the alligators just under the surface in our thinking.
This is real life wrestling!
The alligator with the biggest jaws and sharpest teeth is the spirit of Fear. He is the leader of the Gator Congregation.
The spirit of Fear is out there, sunning on the banks of our creative river. It waits for us to come close for a drink, so we can flow with inspiration. Then SNAP!
The snapping and biting are THOUGHTS and ANXIOUS FEELINGS. Like fiery darts, the enemy flings fear and doubt our way.
Some common gators in this congregation are:
Lack of Confidence – I have never published anything!
Doubt – Is this really what I am supposed to be doing with my time? Did God really call me to
write? Are my words even relevant? I’m too young. I’m too old.
Imposter Syndrome – Who do I think I am? I don’t have an MFA! Who am I kidding?
Rejection – What if I write my best and it’s still not good enough? Remember that last rejection letter?
Lack of Worth – Why would God want to use me? My life is so messed up! I do not measure up to other writers!
The list of gators goes on and on. These forces of evil prowl and hiss to stop the creative flow in all of us, by getting in our heads.
The gators snap and bite as I prepare to write. Their nagging little thoughts are just under the surface level of my conscious thought, hidden in the reeds and bushes.
I may feel anxiety, weakening my creativity and resolve to write. Instead of writing, I fix the blinds and dunk the tea bag.
Peter warns us!
8 Stay alert! Watch out!
Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
searching for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Tree of Life Version
INTO THE WATER
If we allow fear and anxiety to paralyze us, the gators get control. They pull our thinking into the murky muddy waters of the Swamp of Self.
Remember the Alligator Death Roll? He spins us around with destructive self-thinking breaking our heavenly calling to write into pieces.
These self-gators are lethal. The most common are Self-rejection, Self-doubt, Offense, Self-accusation, and the biggest preacher in the congregation – SELF-PITY.
The spirit of Self-pity will convince us that we are too weak to go on, we have been rejected too many times, and no one quite understands us or cares about us anyway.
IF we believe we are too weak to go on fighting to write, THEN the enemy wins and the bag of chips comes out. The writing session is over.
ONCE YOU GET INTO SWAMPY SELF-THINKING, it’s really hard to get out.
Once in the swamp, watch out for the Death Roll.
Paul Has a Solution to Alligator Issues
All alligators are super strong, but our strength comes from the Lord Jesus! We rely on His strength and Paul’s directions as we fight against the powers of dark thinking.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God,
so that you are able to take your stand against the schemes of the devil.
17 And take the helmet of salvation and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:10-11, 17
Tree of Life Version
God’s word is the Sword of the Spirit. When the devil wants to bring us into swampy thinking, believing and declaring God’s word, SHUTS HIS MOUTH and the wrestling match is over!
HOW TO WRESTLE A GATOR IN REAL LIFE! 1
STEP 1 – Jump on the alligator’s back up around the neck. Approach from behind, not the front or sides or you will get bit. If you can’t sneak up from behind, throw something over his eyes to temporarily blind him. Get his eyes off you!
When fearful thoughts come from the enemy’s camp, we can’t afford to just “put up with it.” No! We must recognize what’s going on.
At the start of a writing session, if you are restless or distracted, an alligator may be in operation. Be aware of your feelings and the thoughts behind the distraction.
Remember Peter told us, “Be alert! Watch out!”
Paul tells us – TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE! (2 Corinth 10:5)
Fellow Writers –
WRESTLE THOSE GATORS!
Once you realize the source of the distraction, BE AGGRESSIVE! Jump on that gator’s back. You go after those thoughts and feelings and get control! You are STRONG IN THE LORD! You are dearly loved and called according to His purposes.
STEP 2 – Get up close to the head around the neck. PIN HIS HEAD TO THE GROUND so he cannot bite. Hook your fingers around the jawbone and FORCE the MOUTH CLOSED with both hands!
The mouth of the enemy speaks LIES!
When we wrestle the dark forces speaking fear and intimidation into our thinking, we must get control and shut the gator’s MOUTH.
The success of the wrestling match will be in believing God’s TRUTH OVER the LIES from the mouth of the enemy.
On days when I struggle in my thinking, I get aggressive with those alligators. When the enemy wants to spook me with thoughts of inadequacy and unworthiness, I pray and declare OUT LOUD:
“I am a daughter of the Day, NOT a daughter of the night!
I am a daughter of the Light and NOT a daughter of darkness.
I am destined for salvation in Jesus and not the wrath of God!
I belong to JESUS!
I am filled with His Light.
The broken parts of me are made new in His love!
He is for me, NOT against me!”
– from 1 Thessalonians 5
I declare God’s truth and remind my soul to REALLY BELIEVE. Then the lies of the enemy begin subsiding, and those beady little eyes go back under the water. The congregation scatters and the restless distractions diminish.
I can then reset my writing session, confident in my calling and message and pour out for my Father in Heaven.
STEP 3 – SUBMISSION – Once you have control of the mouth, pull the gator’s head up as close as you can to your chest at a 90-degree angle. In this position, the alligator must submit to you.
I love this part of alligator wrestling! The reason the alligator submits to me is not because I am so smart or so holy or so strong in the Lord. No! It is because I believe and use God’s TRUTH over the gator’s LIES. Then he is forced to look up and acknowledge JESUS is LORD!
As we walk in the calling of writing, it’s my prayer that in wrestling to overcome those lying alligators, we will all have victory and write for the glory of the Lord!
1 – Technique of wrestling gators from:
HOW TO WRESTLE AN ALLIGATOR
https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/manly-know-how/how-to-wrestle-an-alligator/
SEMIOLE ALLIGATOR WRESTLING
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/how-floridas-seminole-tribe-transformed-alligator-wrestling-into-a-symbol-of-independence
HUNTING
https://www.atshq.org/what-do-alligators-eat/
THE DEATH ROLL
https://a-z-animals.com/blog/alligator-death-roll-everything-you-wanted-to-know/
The Holy Scriptures. The Tree of Life Version, Copyright 2015 by Baker Books, A Division of Baker Publishing Group. PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids Michigan 49516-6287. www.bakerbooks.com.
Bravo! I love your metaphor! And your message. Thank you sister💛Also, if I ever get attacked by a real alligator_ I’ll know what to do!
Today, particularly, I can relate. Thanks!!