My grandma always berates me for not keeping a journal. “One day you’ll wish you had!” she says. “You won’t be able to remember those funny things that happened or all the details about any trips you take if you don’t write it down!” And of course she is right, but I’ve tried keeping a journal before and usually all my efforts end in neglect. A few years ago, I was cleaning out some stuff and found an old journal. The first entry said something like, “Today is January 1 and I’m going to keep this journal every day!” That was both the first and last entry! Contrast my poor journal keeping with a friend that I’ve known since before elementary school. She always keeps a journal, and I cannot even guess how many books she has filled. She told me once that looking back through one of her journals gave her a better understanding of who she was at a certain time in her life. I’ve known other people who have kept journals during difficult times so they could look back and know exactly what happened and what was said.
Journaling preserves the truth as we individually experience it since we write from our own perspectives. Some people desire to share their stories with others because they perceive the benefit others could obtain by learning from their mistakes, successes, and life events. Often times well-known, as well as relatively obscure, people have had their life story written either by another person, in a biography, or they write it themselves, in an auto biography. I’ve read several books that are stories of people’s lives who have served God amidst terrible trials such as war, famine, heartbreak, and more. These experiences are often inspiring and while they certainly tell a gripping story the main focus is on how God has worked in their lives. One such book is The Miracle of the Seventh-day Ox by Bradley Booth which Pastor Reed shared during our Prophecy Seminar. Another one that really impressed me was One Miracle After Another by Greg Budd. And sometimes, as I am not personally connected with the people these amazing experiences happen to, I am tempted to not believe the stories because they are so unusual. Pavel Goia’s experience, as recorded in One Miracle After Another, is so unbelievable that it is either the work of God or of imagination but certainly not coincidence. My father-in-law first introduced me to this book and he had personally met Goia bringing the experience at least a little closer to home. These books as well as others can be purchased online through the Advent Book Center if you click on the title links I included above.
The Bible itself is filled with accounts written by individuals inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16) highlighting their own or others’ experiences with the power of God and about the life of Christ. Just a few favorites of mine are the Book of Ruth, the Book of Ester, Gabriel’s announcements to Elizabeth and Mary about their respective upcoming births (Luke 1:5-58), and Gideon and the 300 men in battle (Judges 7). So as we cruise into 2019, perhaps you might consider rereading some Bible stories or even maybe searching the scriptures for one you either haven’t read or have forgotten about. When someone first told me about the story of the bears mauling the children (2 Kings 2:23-25) I honestly thought they were pulling my leg until I read it for myself. As you read all of these testimonies, meditate on the reality that our God, the Creator, the All Powerful, the Eternal, loves and cares for us so much that He is a mighty force working in the lives of those who have come before us, in our lives, and in the lives of those who will live for Him until the end of the age.
Sometimes I feel as though I cannot see the workings of His hands in my life. These are the times I need to pray that God will open my eyes, my heart, and my mind to His influence. If you are consistent in your desire and your prayer, God will help you see Him more clearly. Maybe a good journal to keep would be a log of answered prayers or amazing situations that were beyond coincidence. We all have a story, a testimony to share. God chooses to reveal Himself in our lives and in the Bible in order for us to build our faith in Him. And by knowing how God has fulfilled His promises in the past, through the experiences of Bible characters, we can be assured of the prophecies that have yet to be accomplished. “My faith is strengthened that all things are in God's hands. I realize God is never in heaven worried. He knows exactly what is going to happen. That gives me peace that my life is in His hands. He knows what's coming. That what He said will happen.” - Doug Batchelor. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).