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I call them the D.A.R.L.I.N.G. emails. They come at 8 p.m., and I try my best to avoid them. 

Last night, 8 p.m. sharp, I received one. Last night. Grrr!

They began years ago. A nearby library had a charming little study room that you could freely reserve. It had cheerful yellow walls and lovely antique furniture.

Evenings and Saturdays, I tucked myself away there to work on pieces of fiction. As I’ve said, Jesus never wrote a book, but He loved to tell stories. God led me to write fiction long before I became a Faith columnist.

But, I had trouble staying focused, working on one piece and then another.

Enter Jackie Turley.

Jackie has a master’s in literature. In her twenties at the time, she worked nights and Saturdays at that little library, even though she was a full-time university professor. I greatly admired her, and we became wonderful friends.  

When she mentioned an item she couldn’t afford, I offered to trade her that item for the D.A.R.L.I.N.G. emails—the ones I never want to get.

And thus began the journey.

D.A.R.L.I.N.G. emails are Daily Accountability Reminder Letters Invoking Necessary Guidance. 

In other words, every day except Sunday, I send Jackie at least 15 minutes of work on a specific project. Her job isn’t to read the work, just to make sure I do it. If Jackie doesn’t get my pages, I get the email.

And I never want one. No.

Fifteen minutes usually mushrooms into hours. In fact, that’s what happened last night—I didn’t realize it was 8:00.

This collaboration turned out to be the greatest thing. Having a wingman (or wing-woman) can be the difference between success or failure. 

I had been working on an eight-volume serial mystery for over a decade, Emerald Coast. Volume 1 is now available on Amazon, and the second volume of Reaching to God will soon be out.

Does the Bible speak about such encouragement? Absolutely.

In Scripture, the Apostle Paul badly needed a wingman, and God knew it. Just as the Lord sent Jackie Turley my way, God gave Barnabas to Paul.

Remember, Paul’s name was Saul before he set out from Jerusalem to Damascus and met the risen Lord. Saul was a very, very dangerous man. Paul says this in his own words, “I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death… ” (Acts 22:4, NIV).

Scripture says, in Jerusalem it was Saul who sought “to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:3, NIV). 

At that time, Saul spoke “murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1, NIV).

Consequently, after his conversion, when Paul returned to Jerusalem to preach Jesus, the church only knew him as evil, bloodthirsty Saul. 

A very, very dangerous man, as I said. 

It was then that Barnabas became Paul’s wingman. Scripture says, “When (Paul) came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:26-27, NIV).

Barnabas changed everything. 

Scripture goes on to say, “So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews… ” (Acts 9:28, NIV)

Unfortunately, those Jews tried to kill Paul. It must have been a very serious attack because the church sent him home to Tarsus. 

Enter Paul’s wingman again.

“Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:25-26, NIV).

Paul’s ministry failed in Jerusalem, but Barnabas placed him back on track. Moreover, it’s from Antioch that the two set forth on their first missionary journey.

Encouragement can be the difference between success or failure. Paul needed help and God sent Barnabas, just as I needed Jackie and those D.A.R.L.I.N.G. nudges.

God also placed a dream on your heart. It was Paul who said, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19, NIV).

If you aren’t boldly moving toward that dream, pray for God’s help.

Perhaps you need a wingman.

The Rev. Mathews (BA, MDiv, JD) is a faith columnist and the author of the Reaching to God series and Emerald Coast: The Vendetta. Contact her at Hello@RAMathews.com. 

Copyright © 2024 R.A. Mathews.  All rights reserved.