I never really was much of a writer. In fact, some might argue that I’m not much of one today, either. I guess it’s not stopping me. That aside, I have grown to love writing over the past few years. It all started in high school when I started journaling. Now, before you go and think I must have been a super spiritual kid, my journals were about boys and the girl drama in my life, not about Jesus. Still, I loved getting my thoughts down on paper, even as unspiritual as they might have been.
When I finally went off to Bible college, I found myself immersed in a world of real journalers…you know, people who fill journal pages with their prayers and devotional thoughts from their time spent with the Lord. I was blown away! I had never written much in my journals worth rereading. So, because I like to fit in, I decided to give it a try. And thus began my love relationship with writing.
To this day, I still have all of my old journals lining the shelves of my bookcase at home, pages filled with thoughts, prayers, struggles, petitions, Scripture, and ultimately a beautiful storyline of my walk with the Lord over the years. Sometimes when I pull one off the shelf and dare to peek inside, I laugh out loud at the silly things I felt needed to be put on paper. Other times, tears come to my eyes as I remember well the pain of the struggle that I penned. But, the very best thing about rereading my often immature and silly words are the times when I can see how God answered the prayers that I had prayed within those pages.
I like to call this “rehearsing God’s faithfulness.” If you have a really great memory, you can just sit and do this in silence. If not, and you tend to be more like me—super forgetful—journaling has proven to be the best way for me to practice the discipline of rehearsing the faithfulness of God. There are days when I honestly can’t remember what I just ate for breakfast, but if I wrote it down, how could I forget?
Today, I found myself in Psalm 18. It took me two seconds to fall head over heels in love with its words because the entire chapter talks about the LORD being our Rock and our Fortress. I love knowing that this is true of the God whom I serve. How do I know this to be true? Because I’ve seen God be these things for me in my life, and I remember these times well because I’ve written them down. Read the opening lines of this beautiful Psalm with me:
“I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:1-2
Why do I love these words so much? Because I KNOW them to be true! I can look back through my pages and pages of journals and think back throughout my life and recall countless times when I experienced the LORD being my strength when my own strength was all but gone. I can remember times when the ground beneath my feet seemed to crumble and give way all around me, but God was THE ROCK, my Rock, that would not be moved. I could tell you about the times when the LORD delivered me from my enemies, from my sin, and even from myself.
Every single description of God in these two, short verses I know to be true. And in the times when I struggle under the weight of doubt, insecurity, forgetfulness, and faithlessness, like just yesterday, I can choose to rehearse God’s faithfulness in my past to remind me of the fact that He will be faithful in my present and remain faithful in my future.
Because that’s just who He is. He’s faithful, even when we’re not. He’s constant, even when we’re not.
I want to invite you to do something with me today. Would you join me in rehearsing the faithfulness of God in your life? When was the last time God provided for you? Write it down, and thank Him for it. When was the last time that God comforted you in your sorrow? Write it down, and thank Him for it. When was the last time you saw God through another person? Write it down, and thank Him for it. When were you last encouraged by His truth?
Write it down. Thank Him for being so faithful. Those pages will prove to be your saving grace one day when you just can’t seem to remember how good He really is.
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