This sentence from the Psalms has captured my imagination: I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you (Psalm 32:8).
This is the LORD's promise for His people. It's a promise you can hang your hat on. If you have your ears open to hear the LORD, you can be sure that He will speak into your life to provide guidance. And remember, our God is a God of infinite variety. He can speak to us in numerous ways. Listed below are some of them.
God can speak to you, and He can
direct you—
– through the Holy Scriptures
– through the gentle nudge of the
Holy Spirit
– through his anointed servant
leaders
– through events and circumstances
– through open doors and closed
doors
– through dreams and visions
– and through prophetic words.
– He can even speak to you through
the words of the ungodly.
And please bear in mind that this is
only intended as an illustrative list, not an exhaustive list. If you have come
to Christ, the Good Shepherd, you can rest assured that He will instruct you and
teach you in the way you should go. I believe that includes when you sit down to write using your computer or tablet.
Let's not make the mistake of thinking that if God is guiding our writing we are somehow infallible or inerrant. The truth is human vessels make mistakes. I still need spell-check and an editor even if God is providing some inspiration.
We can over spiritualize the writing experience, but there is also a danger that we deny God's involvement in it. The LORD is well able to direct our thoughts as we write. When we invite Him into the writing process with our spiritual ears open to His prompting, wonderful things–truly unexpected things can happen.
May those wonderful things–those Holy Spirit prompted thoughts happen to you.
Some of the thoughts for today's post were drawn from Psalms Alive! Connecting Heaven and Earth.
David Kitz lives in Ottawa with his wife Karen. His most recent book is published by Kregel and entitled The Soldier Who Killed a King
5 comments:
Thank you David. Instructional and cautionary and really encouraging, too; you've provided all of that here, and more. Oh yes, it is awesome to consider that the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writers of the Scriptures, can inspire us in our writing by using a great variety of avenues to whisper, nudge and direct us. May it be so. ~~+~~
David,
We are all loving Psalms Alive - in our Facebook group. Your words and illustrations were certainly inspired even if your spelling was spell-checked. All that is in there feeds our soul, helps us ask God questions and helps us listen to Him.
I have been inspired to continue groups like this - there is a hunger to know God deeply, and hear Him speak.
Blessings
Janis
A good reminder, David, of the nudges towards writing and that it's not done at first writing but can still be worked on.
Yes. Good thoughts, David. Of course we are not divinely inspired to write 'any more' Scripture. God had his people in place for that so that needs 'no adding on.' But yes, I agree that we can hear from God, as in our Christian muse. But we need to remember we have our free will at play. I believe that enters into our writing, too. That said, freewill doesn't always have to lead to something negative. What a joy it is to freely praise and write about God - because my heart wants to!
Thoughtful post.
David, I applaud this post. I believe, and have personally experienced what you have outlined. I've realized that many churches teach their congregation differently, and that makes me sad. I believe we can learn new things, be shown additional to what is in Scripture. We can personalize and apply God's words to our lives. By virtue of the operation of the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, Scripture is supplemented. It is not dissimilar to expanded versions of modern day Bibles. Thank you for this very encouraging and enlightening subject that remains debatable to many.
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