Journal, Journal, Journal

“The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception”

(Pr. 14:8).

If you’re like most people, you don’t have time for journaling. You might also say that it’s not your love language or style or thing or whatever. But I would like to ask you to reconsider. We all know that we live in a fast -paced culture characterized by getting what you want immediately and doing what you want as soon as possible. And we do it! We reap all the benefits of instant access to everything and we get a lot done. But if we are not careful with how we live in this cultural climate, we can greatly stunt our spiritual growth.

Along with immediate access comes incessant busyness. We learn to go from one thing to the next so fast because we want to accomplish more, more, more, and suddenly we get spiritually sick. So what do we do? We dive into entertainment, leisure, relationships, even sin and then we go to sleep and do it all over again. But even good things like entertainment, leisure, and relationships can become band-aids, escapes, drugs which we choose to get our minds off of things and ease our feelings.

The main problem with a high-octane-go-go-go lifestyle is that it leaves little to no room for a person “to give thought to their ways” (Pr. 14:8). The busyness of our days because of our readily available panorama of options for entertainment after a long day at work chokes out any time to ponder and wonder about how we are even living from one activity to the next. Are we keeping God-glorifying priorities or are we just letting our pleasure-gauges drive us from one activity to the next? Or do we even know?

Often the only place left for reflection on your day is the moments when you lie awake in bed at night before you fall asleep. Maybe we are able to give thought to our ways during this time, and make a few resolutions to do better tomorrow or next week, but then we wind up in our bed again having been carried by the brisk current of the day’s activities and surprise surprise – we’re in the same place we were the day before and nothing’s changed. Or it’s worse! Then we begin to struggle to keep even the time before bed from becoming an anxious or lust-filled swirl of thinking that carries us off to sleep.

“The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception” (Pr. 14:8). What is the wisdom of the wise? They give thought to their ways. Now try keeping even a half an hour per day just to be sitting and thinking about your life – without worry, without lust, without distraction. It’s pretty hard. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve tried to do that or just sit and pray and either fallen asleep or just failed at it. Then I say to everyone who mentions the word “journal” that I just couldn’t do that because I have a hard enough time just stopping to pray for 30 minutes.

But journaling is one of the most important disciplines I have ever cultivated. In fact, there is no equal, and nothing so practical as journaling to help you give thought to your ways when you’re immersed in a fast paced culture like ours. Try it! Sit down and write out a prayer and you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to concentrate and focus your thoughts because you have a pen in your hand. Journaling makes contemplation, thinking, and reflecting 100 times easier, not harder! Not only that, but journaling trains your mind to think better. It also teaches you how to communicate more clearly and coherently.

Now, some of you may be thinking that journaling is boring because you have nothing exciting in your day to write about. Don’t use your journal to keep an orderly history of the happenings of the day. That’ll drive you nuts and be a waste of time if as much happens in the minutes of your day as it does in mine. Only journal about what you want to think, pray, or reflect about. You want to talk to God? Grab a pen and paper. You want to think about how you conducted yourself today? Grab a pen and paper. Once you get going on something that you care to contemplate, just let the thoughts of your head flow onto the page whatever they may be. As a rule of thumb, be completely honest with your journal. No secrets allowed! Journaling is a great way for you to be honest with yourself and with God.

Remember “the folly of fools is deceit” (Pr. 14:8 NASB). It’s really easy to deceive yourself when you don’t give careful thought to your ways. We need that time to be honest with ourselves about how we are really doing spiritually.

The most important benefit of journaling is that it facilitates personal spiritual growth. Why are the wise wise? Because they think very carefully about their ways. Thinking carefully about your ways not only means that you are wise, it makes you wise. You grow and learn when you think about your life. Generally we come away from things with some kind of impression, but we don’t make sense of that impression and learn the lessons and grow and cultivate wisdom until we give thought to it. That’s what journaling is all about. It’s about mentally and emotionally processing life so that you continue to grow in wisdom and understanding of God and of yourself and of how you ought to be living your life. Writing your thoughts down helps you sustain and direct your thinking keeping it free from distractions and worry.

So if after all I’ve said, you still aren’t sold on journaling…I have one more question for you: How else will you ensure that you give regular and proper “thought to your ways” in the midst of your busy life?

“Get wisdom, get understanding…Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost you all you have, get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor” (Pr. 4:5-9).