The Word Guild: hand of war

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Trained to Write by SUSAN HARRIS

They are likely the most washed parts of our bodies. They touch, lift and help. And trump voice recognition software when it comes to the craft. The overwhelming majority of writers type their work-with fingers. Some still grip pens. Hands and fingers have been, and continue to be, the main reliance for writing.

Have you considered the specific anointing that rests on your hands? How the Lord our Rock equips us with strength and skill as we touch fingers to keyboard?

In Psalm 144:1 we read, "Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." (NKJV). As He trained the psalmist David to fight fair and well using his hands, He invests in our writing as we use our hands. Imagine- trained by God Himself to write!

I've worked in the training department of several organizations, engaging in new training, cross training and re-training. I was trained as a high school teacher and even took "Train the Trainer" courses in health-related fields. But few certificates are as effective as the whispers I receive for writing from the corporate body of Heaven.

As I pick my way with two fingers over a keyboard, looking at every key before pressing it, my thumb and pointer move swiftly (I think at 35 wpm,) the supernatural training springs from within, it's source from above. Fingers battle against discouragement as I type chapters of inspirations and posts of hope. Fingers find the spots where research waits; the Bible verses that will break bondage. Hands war against injustice and despair, and carry out the tasks throughout publication and into the market. Hands shake other hands, sign books, and are quick to assist another. I've never attended a writer's conference (I volunteered at the registration desk of the SWG conference for four hours) yet I've been invited to host publishing workshops at the provincial level. Armed with the output I received from my Heavenly Trainer.

Fellow writers, we are tasked to "call the things that are not as so they are" (Romans 4:17), through the creation of formal iterature. We are to pen them for the time in which we live and the genres in which our words fit. Father God has blessed our hands and fingers to write for His glory, and what He has blessed no one can un-bless. May your confidence be unshakeable as you war in the literary realm.