Exploring ‘Valuable’ with Liz Carter by Tracy Williamson

It's a joy this Blog to interview Liz Carter on her recently published book, Valuable.  I've learnt so much from Liz and I'm delighted at the opportunity to find out more about how she came to write on this theme. of our true worth. 

Many months ago an email from Liz plopped into my inbox asking if I would mind sharing a personal story in the book she was currently writing called ‘Valuable – Why your worth is not defined by how useful you feel’.  This title resonated with me immediately and I felt very honoured to share in it.  I submitted my couple of pages to Liz and as the months went by almost forgot about it, until I received another message letting me know things would soon be happening to prepare for her launch and asking if I’d like to be a prereader.

 

It was a deep encounter for me from the moment I started reading Valuable.  Liz’s description of being the sick child at school, the weeks off because of illness, the resulting rejections and mockery even from her teachers, the growing belief that she could never be useful …all these things resonated with me so deeply and lead me to my first question:

 

Liz, how did you come to write on this theme of being valuable as opposed to being useful?  Did you have a sudden revelation from God that this was what your new book needed to be about?  Or was it something like a slow dawning of awareness as you looked back over your own life?  Or something different?

 It was more a very slow awareness, over a few years. When I first started blogging back in 2011 I was writing about value, and where we find it if we can’t ‘do’, so I’d always had those themes going around in my head. What really cemented it for me was observing how some of the austerity rhetoric of the 2010s was hitting sick and disabled people: they were being told they didn’t deserve their benefits, that they should be trying harder, that they were scroungers and skivers. I saw people reduced to tears by the idea that in this society they had no value.

You’ve obviously faced deep pain yourself in this whole area of being made to feel useless because of your health.  Was it that very pain that led you to search the Bible to find the truth about God’s heart for us?  How much of a personal revelation was it that He sees us as valuable rather than just as something He can use?

Very much so. I grew up feeling useless – even at school I felt I wasn’t enough. Teachers told me I was bright, then told me I wasn’t trying hard enough, and all of this went deep, along with the idea that I somehow formed along the way, that being healed and ‘whole’ would make me more ‘useful’ to God – exacerbated by so many prayers for healing, and so much disappointment in people’s faces when it didn’t happen. Was I disappointing God, too? Was it really down to my lack of faith, as I was sometimes told?

 Digging into scripture helped me understand so much more about our true value. I saw how God’s power is perfected in weakness. I saw how God chooses to work with the flawed and the weary. I saw how wide, deep, high and long God’s love for each one of us is. It changed my view of myself so much, but I still sometimes grapple with feelings of uselessness. I think we all do!

 Yes that’s so true and when you share personal examples like your children’s school calling to tell you you’d forgotten to provide them with their lunches (you were very unwell at the time) and you feeling crushed by their unspoken message of your uselessness as a mother, I empathised greatly.  I so easily fall into that trap of feeling a useless failure when I can’t hear or see enough to make a ‘useful’ response to a need.  Do you think this is actually a widespread issue in our society?  Have you had a picture in your mind of who you are writing the book for?

 Yes, I think that feeling of failure is crushing for many, many people, and many of us feel we need to hide it away under shiny smiles and images of success on social media. I think the world – and sometimes the church – puts us under pressure to be better. The strong are honoured and even weakness can somehow be made into how inspirational that person is – how strong they are. When we don’t feel strong, or successful, we can spiral further into those useless narratives. I wrote this book for everyone who sometimes feels a little of this, in however big or small a way – I wanted to speak into lives where pain and lack has played too big a part.

 That’s a beautiful thing Liz and so needed.  So what to you are the most important things you’ve tried to convey through the book?

 I think the simplicity of what value is, in God’s upside-down kingdom, and how that contrasts to the narratives of the world. I wanted to challenge language around use and uselessness – and even usefulness – and help readers flip their own notions of strength and weakness and come to a place of assurance of value and worth.

 That’s absolutely vital isn’t it.  So what would you most like to hear as feedback about Valuable?

 That it has helped someone throw off negative words that have been spoken over them, and led them into a new assurance of just how loved they are.

 For me as I read, one of the deepest and most searching things you brought out was our inherent understanding of God as a ‘user’ and how damaging that can be.  I experienced abuse myself as a child and have always been aware of my subconscious question, ‘Is God the same, just out to use me?’ That you dared to bring this into the light and shine the truth on who God really is, not a user but a loving Father and Creator who delights in His children and calls them Valuable, is devastatingly powerful.   How did this understanding come to you and how was it for you to express in writing?

 I’m so sorry you were made to feel like this. I’ve long felt uncomfortable with the idea that God ‘uses’ us – I know the phrase is meant for good, but it’s not in the least a biblical phrase and I believe it’s something that needs challenging, because words matter. Words can deeply wound, and for people who have been ‘used’ by others it can’t be a comfort to be told they can be ‘used’ by God. Diving into scripture was so interesting – there’s no instance of the verb ‘to use’ with a person as its object, and no language of ‘God using’ – I found so much more than I’d imagined about how God honours and loves us rather than uses us. It was really exciting to start writing this all down and thinking about alternative positive language – I know already that in some ways it’s controversial, some have made it clear they highly disagree and love the idea of ‘God using’ – but it's great to spark discussion, isn’t it, and I really hope people will at least think about it all.

 Yes taking time to really reflect on ideas or words that we take for granted is so important isn’t it.  But tell me, did you find any aspect of its writing particularly challenging?

 This last year I have been suffering with Long Covid on top of my lung condition, and I’ve found some of the writing and editing stages very physically challenging. My publishers have been brilliant and supportive, but there were times I thought I wouldn’t finish – and there were times I lost all confidence in myself and my writing. Long term illness can do this, and being housebound for a large part of the last year led me to all the feelings I was trying to counter in the book! The timing was interesting, but God brought me through, and I am grateful.

I’m so sorry you’ve been struggling with Long Covid.  I find it awesome that you’ve brought out such a searching book when so poorly.  Thanks you for the immense effort its taken you to do this Liz.

 Through your own painful experiences, you’ve allowed God to take you on a journey that, through your writing, teaches and encourages others to discover a new perspective about themselves.  How would you encourage those who would like to write to teach or inspire others and share from their own experiences?

 The first thing I would say is that I recognise the cost of getting it out there. When I first started blogging, I was terrified, and very nearly deleted the whole thing. Clicking that very first ‘publish’ button was possibly the biggest step in my writing journey so far, because it led to everything that followed. So I would encourage people to go for it – to take that step forward, and to know God is walking it with you. What I would say is that sharing from your own experience with honesty and vulnerability can be so powerful because it helps others share too, and can bring healing into brokenness. I’m really happy to chat about it further with anyone who wants to contact me.

 How did you actually go about writing it?  I was impressed by the depth of continuity as one chapter flowed into another.  Your use of stories, teaching, prayers and suggested actions…..How did you prepare and plan it? Did it take much research and planning beforehand or evlve as you wrote?

 The finished product looks pretty different from the first draft! When I first submitted it I had ideas for around 20 chapters, but my publishers soon brought me down to earth and we ended up with eight more coherent chapters. I did plan carefully with the aid of thousands of words of notes from the Bible, books, magazines and websites, and then worked closely with my editor from the publishers to hone and refine it and whip it into shape. Some of that was pretty painful, but brought home to me just how vital close editing is. Getting rid of the flab makes for a better read!

 That’s SO true and a lesson I really need to learn!

 In one sentence, what message does Valuable have for someone waking up feeling they can’t live another day under their weight of uselessness?

“Let’s re-imagine our love stories with God as ones in which we love and are loved to the full, rather than places where we must perform.”

 If the Lord Jesus was here in person, what would He say about ‘Valuable?’

Gosh, that’s a massive question! I really hope he’d say that he rather likes it 😊

I’m absolutely certain He would be delighted Liz, at how you’ve brought this message to the fore!

Thank you Liz.  I’m so honoured to be part of this amazing book and to have the privilege of reading it and interviewing you.  I’m sure its already having a huge impact and I will be praying every opportunity opens up for its message to be heard.

Tracy Williamson is a writer and speaker working together with blind sing songwriter Marilyn Baker for MBM Trust, a ministry seeking to bring transformation to peoples lives through music, teaching and prayer ministry.  Tracy who is deaf and sight impaired will soon be releasing her new book Unashamed.