Day 10... Quiet Writing

Day 10.. Quiet Writing

Bible verse;

And Mary said:  "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" Luke 1:46-47.

While reading today's lesson I am taken back to my teenage years, when I used to write down everything.  Mostly because I didn't feel I had anyone to talk to about what was happening in my life at that time (like many other teenagers), but I think now even then that God was working in my life.  I did find that when I wrote things down I did feel better, and I lingered less on the problems.  It was like I was giving it to God, but I can't say for sure.  I hope so.

Today we are going to talk about keeping a journal, or as the author so wonderfully puts it, "putting down on paper whatever we want to record about our spiritual journey" (Moore, p.53).  There are so many things we can write down, and it doesn't have to be grammatically correct, or in any specific order.  It can be whatever we are thinking about at that time.  Maybe it's a question to God, maybe it's an answer from God, whatever it is write it down so that you can reflect on it in the future, or someone else can.

I like and agree with the concept of keeping a journal, but I couldn't help but feel that it was going to be one more thing that I had to do, along with everything else I have to do everyday.  However, I was pleasantly surprised as I continued to read that it is not something I have to do everyday!  Thank you God!  I have started to journal a few times over the last years, mostly trying to record how Huntington's affects our lives, but most days it doesn't at this point, again I say thanks to God, so I write a day and then don't for a long time.  I felt like a failure, and that would be the devil working.  My how he likes us to fail.  Moore says that this is a trap we can fall into, and boy did I fall.  I am glad to know that I have not failed, and I can just pick up where I left off, or I can journal the next time something happens.  We can do the same thing during our spiritual journey, write down when things happen.

Quiet writing gives us a tool for reflecting our time alone with Christ.  The Book of Psalms is a great example of journaling. King David for told us about his journey with God, the good and the bad.  He wrote about when he praised God, and when he questioned His presence in his life.  Journaling can be a place to be completely honest, no holding back, good or bad.

When we journal like that it gives us the opportunity to reflect on a problem.  I was struck with such a vision when the author says, "He (God) steps between our problems and ourselves, they're not nearly as big as they first appeared" (p.55).  Can't you just see God standing there as a filter, showing us that the problem without everything else that we have built around it?  I love that!

This journal can also be left as a written record of your own spiritual journey for your children, or grandchildren or maybe a friend.  Maybe I'll start again, or just pick up where I left off in that pretty leather bound book I purchased.  However, even if I don't, I hope when someone picks up my Bible, maybe after I have gone to be with God in Heaven, they will see on the edge of many pages, thoughts that I had, visions that God so graciously gave to me, revelations, or they will see the passages that I hi-lited so that I could find them easily, or remember what I felt like when I was reading that passage.  I do hope that they also see the bigger picture, the one that shows them that I was actively involved with God, and the journey I am on. 

Whatever method you use, notebook, margins of the Bible or another book, note cards, or your computer, our goal is the same.  We want to encounter Christ and reflect on our time spent with Him.

Remember:  Take time to record significant moments along your spiritual journey.

And Mary said:  "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"  Luke 1:46-47