If you know anything much about me at all, you probably know I want to be a writer. I've wanted to be a writer basically forever and I still hold that desire close to my heart. I wrote a novel for school because I want to be a writer. I stalk author's websites because I want to be a writer. I started this blog because I want to be a writer.
That last one is what I want to talk about today.
I don't remember my precise reasoning for starting this blog almost three years ago. It might have been for the writing. I might have been excited that other people could read what I wrote. Who knows? But I do know exactly what it's done for me.
It has helped me in my walk with Christ.
Over the past three years, my posts have been rather sporadic and random. Some were life updates, some were stories, and some were about spiritual things. Writing about the things that God taught me was really hard at first. I was worried about putting my faith on the internet (even with just a few people reading). I was especially worried that I would mess it all up and say everything wrong.
But, I must say, I am so glad that I did start writing about my faith. Now there are hardly any posts that don't have to do with what God's teaching me through His Word and the circumstances in my life and I am so happy about that.
My main purpose in writing this post is to urge you to do something similar to what I do.
Don't get scared on me, I don't necessarily mean starting your own blog and putting it out there for everyone to see (but if you want to do that, I do encourage it). What I mean is writing about how God is growing you. That could be on a blog or in a journal or on the back of a napkin at a particularly dull dinner party.
A lot of people will say that they aren't writers, and I get that. But I think there is real value to be found in writing about your walk with Christ on a regular basis, even if writing isn't your thing. And yes, I only mean writing - not talking or thinking or anything like that (though those are good too). Here's why:
When you write about something, you have to get your thoughts together on that subject. If you're working on a research paper about the federal government for example, you have to focus and organize your thinking around that one topic.
Writing about your faith is no different. When you make yourself put forth the effort to examine and record the details about one specific thing that God is doing in your life, it becomes clearer to you.
Writing also requires spending time thinking about the subject upon which you are writing. In this case, that means dwelling on how you grow and how you fail and on how God is working things in your mind and circumstances. Those are incredibly valuable things to think about.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
I'd say your sanctification falls into quite a few of those categories.
Another benefit to writing about God's work in you is that it opens your eyes to your growth, and God's faithfulness to you. When you force yourself to take 20 minutes to think about what you're learning and struggling through and write about it, you see God so clearly.
When you do it by topic, you also think about that topic and see where it comes up in your day to day life. For example, when I was learning about contentment (as if I'm done ;), I wrote a blog post about it. I started noticing when I wasn't content, which helped me to change. I remembered the verses God had shown me, and I was able to pray that He would help me be content in those situations.
One final way writing about my spiritual life has helped me so much is that I can look back and see where I used to be against where I am now. This doesn't only apply to writing proficiency, but also to spiritual growth. It's so incredible to go back to old posts or journal entries or read through the notes in my Journaling Bible and see everything God's done for me. It reminds me that He is faithful, because I so often forget. And it reminds me that He's not done with me yet, because I forget that too.
So those are the reasons I would strongly urge you to make a weekly practice of taking a step back and writing about whatever theme seems prevalent in your life. It clarifies it so that you can work on it and praise God for the little victories of sanctification. You can never go wrong with examining your walk with the Lord, and writing is a very profitable way to do so.
-Kira
A couple weeks ago, I got to see the movie/documentary Is Genesis History? To be honest, I went into it not really expecting to learn a whole lot - or at least to just add to the list of facts stored away in the back of my mind that prove events in the Bible.
And I did learn a few more facts - really cool ones. But the thing that most affected me about that movie was the majesty of God.
We've all heard it since we first started going to Sunday School: "Look, God made those trees outside and all the mountains and oceans and rivers. Isn't our God incredible?" And then of course, we must nod and agree like good little Christian children because if we don't, we will never get to snack time.
Of course God is wonderful - we've always been taught that and we've seen it for ourselves on the occasional hike on a particularly beautiful mountain or the sparkle of a starry sky in the middle of the country.
But you know what? I take that for granted a lot. More often than not, I'm that kid at church, agreeing that God is great and would you please pass the goldfish?
That's the wrong attitude. We can't just dismiss how splendid our Creator is - though none of us would ever admit to doing so.
It's become one of those cliche things that everyone talks about, but almost no one believes with real conviction. But we should. When we look at the world around us, we should hardly be able to speak for joy at the beauty and detail of creation.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. -Romans 1:20
Now, this verse is talking about how the unrighteous and those who don't follow after God have no excuse for their immorality, but it applies just as much to Christians. We can see the work of God in the things He has made and there is no excuse for our complacency.
Let's all take every chance we get to admire the glory of God. He has given us a piece of Himself in our ability to appreciate beauty, so let's put it to use. It's not inconvenient. It's not hard. Let's revel in God's creation and give Him praise.
-Kira
I am weak and I don't like it.
There are many ways to use that word: weak. You can have a weakness for some kind of food or novel. You can be weak physically or mentally. You can be weak in your ability to change or fix something.
Today, I particularly mean that last one.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a personal narrative essay for school. My topic (after much agonizing) was sleep.
Maybe you know, maybe you don't know, but I have trouble sleeping. It hasn't always been a problem. As a kid, I thought sleep was a waste of time that could be better spent reading or playing or writing or talking. If I got tired, I knew it wasn't more than a few hours until bed and then I'd be fine the next day.
At the beginning of the summer a couple years ago (2015), that changed. I started going to bed and just not sleeping. Nothing was wrong. I just couldn't quite get to sleep. That's continued to be the case in varying degrees of intensity over the past almost two years.
It's made me weak.
Even now, as I type, I'm having trouble making myself put down these words. Because it's still hard for me; it's still a painful struggle - and one that I feel I'm losing.
When I don't sleep enough one night, I'm irritable and tired the next day. When I don't sleep enough for a week, that intensifies. The littlest thing can (and will) make me mad and a single math problem can become a whole afternoon's frustration. And I cry. I hate to cry, but there's nothing I can do to stop myself when I haven't slept and the tears begin. Absolutely nothing - I have no control.
And that's part of what makes me feel weak.
It's not just the crying and trouble thinking straight and copious amounts of daily caffeine though. I also feel weak because no matter what we've tried to do to fix this problem, it's still there. You name it, I've tried it. Homeopathics, eating and bedtime routines, medications, vitamins. I even got my own room in the hopes that it would help. But nothing does. Not for long, at least.
This is a continual frustration. It doesn't only affect me at night, when I'm staring into the blackness for yet another hour. It also hurts me during the day when I can't focus and think long enough to finish a reading assignment for school.
As a perfectionist, I like to have things in my control. I don't have this in my control. I've been trying to get rid of the perfectionism for a while now, but this one thing I want to have for myself.
I've prayed (rather angrily) that God would take away the sleeplessness, asking Him why He would do this to me. It doesn't seem fair. Such a simple thing permeates the rest of my life and makes easy things hard.
Lately, I've seen the suffering around me. My friends have their own struggles and so does my family. I'm not the only one who has to live with something over which they have no power. And I think we're kind of meant to be that way.
In a sermon on John 11 (if I remember correctly), our pastor said one thing that really stood out.
Trials are good, because when we are weak, the only place we can go is closer to God.
That brings to mind verses like Jeremiah 29:11 and Philippians 4:6-7. God knows what He's doing with my life, weakness included. Even Paul had a "thorn in his side" that God wouldn't take away. Suffering is part of sanctification.
I think realizing that helps. I still want the suffering and weakness gone - I want to be able to sleep at night. But somehow, this is good for me. He knows what He's doing even when I can't do anything.
-Kira
