Sometimes picking out something to write about is hard. It's not necessarily that there's nothing to write about - sometimes there's quite a lot. But sometimes you're just not inspired.
Or, at least, I am not inspired.
I find that the best way to kill off the drive I have to write about something is to talk about it before I write a draft. I don't know why; it's just a mental thing for me, I think.
I wish it wasn't this way, because I think topics would benefit from the refinement, from a sort of crowdsourcing.
The thought that started this topic was Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (NASV)
Writing is a good way to accomplish this, for me; thinking about a topic focuses my attention on it, and the process of committing thought to the page allows me to help others in some small way through what I've written , and lastly, it's a way to fulfill the requirement of man to remember.
Focusing my attention...
It's one thing to fixate on a subject - and another to consider it with the associated concept of God's word, allowing it to fill you and fulfill you.
Fixation is direct focus - but it can be negative. For better or for worse, I'm easily depressed (it's my natural state); it's painfully easy (literally!) for me to focus on something negative, like alienation, and allow it to consume my thoughts.
But meditating on it with God's inestimable plan in mind? That's a positive outcome.
It's not that I understand God's plan. I don't understand it. (One of my best songs has "what have You done?" as a refrain.) That said, remembering that God has a plan, and that it will work out according to His will for the good of those who love Him, means that my focus on a given topic tends to end up focusing more on God, and not the problems associated with a given topic.
So I can shift from alienation as a topic to alienation as a topic to address such that someone might benefit from my thoughts on it, such as they are, and hopefully God gets the glory.
Helping others
To act as part of the Body of Christ is to work together with other believers such that His plan is fulfilled in accordance with His will. For better or for worse, my passion is communication. I am not the best writer in the world (by a long shot, obviously) but I am all right, I think, and writing fulfills my desire and passion to know and be known.
Yet I wouldn't call myself a "mature believer" all that much. I've been a Christian for decades, but as one of our teaching pastors said last night, some Christians have the same three years of experience in the Christian life, seven times over. I'd hope that I'm not an example of that, but I can't honestly say that I'm not.
However, I've spent a lot of those years in study, trying to understand and establish context and familiarity. I think I've been moderately successful, although I think I could have done better than I have.
What is the worth of those years of study, though, if I lock them in a box, never to show anyone the benefit of the experience? Would it not be better for me to record what I can, as it comes to me, such that others can reflect it somehow?
Reflection is exactly what it is, too. I don't consider myself a teacher; it's too easy for me to shift into lecture mode, and I'm too focused on structures around knowledge for the knowledge to be easily communicated.
But by writing down my thoughts, I create a catalyst to which others can react. Perhaps they need what I write; I don't know, honestly, but that's my hope, that God might use it as He sees fit. Or perhaps I'm wrong in my conclusion, and other believers can see my error and enlighten me, or at least understand more about what they believe and understand.
I'm fine with what the result is, regardless of what the result may be. God says that our labor for Him shall not be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:18), even though we may not immediately understand the fruit of our work.
Remember
We are told to remember, and think on, the words of God. The history of the Hebrews is filled with covenants and moments that highlight His nature and power; the most important commandment starts with "Hear, O Israel" (and is followed by a whammy: "The Lord is One; Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength," in Deuteronomy, or Devarim, 6:4-5).
To remember, one must hear; to hear, one must be silent. Yet if all are silent, there's no memory, no record, no history; at some point, someone has to be willing to commit something, even if that something is not perfect. What is written is a catalyst, as already stated.
So having written something, I have done a work (which shall not be in vain) that may fulfill the Will of God (as I write as I am moved to, in relation to topics of God) and I create something that may be referred to, whether as an inspiration or as example of error.
Divinely inspired? I don't know. I don't think so, honestly - but over time, God's will will be done, and I do my best to create the world to come.
Shalom.
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