If you’ve read enough of the old testament stories then you’re probably familiar with the constant memorial markers, days of remembrance and piles of stones the People of the Bible used in recalling past events.
And if you’re a devout student of the Bible then the moment you saw this blog post title, God’s instruction in Habakkuk 2: 2 came to mind.
”Then the Lord replied “Write the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it“. (NIV)
I love how this verse of scripture mentions, though not directly, one of the points I’d like to make in the course of this discuss; A journal doesn’t have to be in paper-book form. You can journal on your phone and your tablet in a very organised manner.
Although there are a thousand and one benefits to journaling, I’d like to stick with two. The first is found in God’s instruction on Journaling ‘That he may run who reads it’ (KJV). This is linked to the second reason for journaling. A journal keeps your memory refreshed of things passed. It’s a memorial stone in a book.
The Psalmist made a powerful statement in Psalm 119:16, he said “… I will not forget your word!”. Your memory is one of the most Impotant faculties you have, but without deliberate efforts to remember, we will forget even the most important things.
Your relationship with God is the most important relationship of your life. Life on Earth is a journey and every journey that will be worth the while needs a journal. A journal, in this context, is different from a personal dairy where you record day-to-day happenings.
A journal is a place where you record the spiritual truths God reveals to your heart. It chronicles your walk with Him, His goodness to you, His deliverance, blessing and the timely interventions of His love.
A journal keeps you thankful. Being thankful involves memory. You can’t be thankful without recalling the good things that have been done to you. There’s something powerful about going back, rehearsing your victories and being thankful for what God has done. Guess what it does? It renews your strength! “That he may run that reads it!”.
I’ve personally experienced this. When faced with a great challenge, when It seems like my heart is overwhelmed, I just pull out my journal of previous years and reread what Abba said to me while I was facing a great challenge, I marvel at how His word came out to be true and I remind my heart that this too will pass. I find that when I do this, The problem that felt so big, suddenly becomes small. I become joyful just recalling God’s faithfulness in time past.
Now I understand why God instituted the different observerances in the Bible like communion, the passover and other special feasts. If you woke up this morning and couldn’t remember anything, just think what it would do to your life. What would it do to your family, your children and everything? You can’t function without memory.
In Psalm 103:2, we are commanded not to forget. This is because you will definitely forget the things you don’t make a conscious effort to remember. Don’t trust your brain, you’ve lived long enough to know that your memory is like a sieve, there’s a 99% chance that you will forget something you just heard in a year to come. Make a practice to journal, revisit, reread until it sticks to your memory.
The most important relationship in your life is your relationship with your Creator and Saviour, make it more fulfilling by journaling your love-walk with Him.
I’ll address how to journal your love walk with God in my next Gospel Truth Post.
Amazing.
Indeed journaling has a way of taking loads off one’s shoulder.
Thanks Ma’am
So true.
I find that this is one of its many benefits; the weight just lifts off you just by sharing.
“A journal is a memorial stone in a book.” I love this! I should practice more detailed journaling.
Oh yes you should.