One of the most impactful things I have ever done in my walk with the Lord is journal. For me the pages I have filled are like memorial stones to look back on and see God’s faithfulness. God is no fool; He knew that we would be quick to forget His faithfulness so He commanded Joshua to set up Memorial Stones in remembrance of crossing over into the Promised Land. The need of a physical reminder is so vital. To put something in position that future generations could ask, “what is this about?” Causing the previous generation to recall where they have been and share with the younger generation so they could learn from it.
I do this on my own, time and time again when I look back at old journals to gird myself with strength. Using the memories of God’s faithfulness in my own life to remind myself that this too shall pass, I will survive; I am in the palm of His hand. Often when I am in a place of encouraging someone I will encourage them to journal and even more so for them to pull out old journals and actively remembering where they came from. My journals often look like something David would have written in the Psalms they are full of me exclaiming “where are you God?!” to pages of praise. It is not unlike me to forget what it is He has done and I am grateful I can go back and remember.
Just the other day I found journals from my time at YWAM and while I was reflecting back God used it to re-ignite a passion in me for a life fully sold out for the cause of Christ. YWAM was a completely different season of life yet there were nuggets throughout that encouraged me now where I am. That is the beautiful thing about journaling they are your own guideposts to life. They remind you of the person you were and can be used to either to push you back there or to show you how far you truly have come.
This is a shot of me and some of the lovely women on my YWAM team journaling at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.
Are you someone who journals? Have you found yourself looking back and seeing the faithfulness of a loving Father? Do you see where you have grown? Have you been inspired to keep going?
To read out more about My Reflections on the Psalms of David go here.
