Confessions of A Christian Writer

Writing is a lonely activity.

A writer has to wrestle not only with the thoughts that are in his or her mind and which of those thoughts to write about, but the writer must also think about the audience who will receive the words. What is the need of the reader? What effect should the writing have on him or her? What approach and words should be used, and are the phrases, grammar and spelling correct? All these activities are done in solitude; they are a matter of what takes place in the heart and mind of the writer.

As the writer of this blog, I have to make a confession. My thoughts lately have been much like the picture above. Weedy, sharp and barren. Quite honestly, people, things, news, teachings, circumstances, and my own self have been irking me. Outwardly I appear pleasant and relatively happy. But inside, when I wrestle with my thoughts, I have been irked.

Lets get this straight about what I've been feeling. Below are some words to describe my inner attitude. However, I don't think I'm alone in being irked. The chances are good that these words will describe what many other people feel at times, even you! Aggravated, annoyed, bothered, bugged, chafed, disgruntled, displeased, disturbed, driven up the wall, exasperated, frustrated, grated, hassled, incensed, inconvenienced, infuriated, maddened, miffed, nagged, needled, outraged, peeved, pestered, plagued, provoked, put out, riled, rubbed the wrong way, teased, ticked off, tried, vexed, worked up and worried.

The editorial pages of a newspaper and a great number of blogs are peoples' opinions about what is irking them. It is relatively easy to talk or write about things that bother us. It's easy to complain about things or blame others when things go wrong. However, as a Christian writer, I can't do that. I have to be careful how I write. I can't just write to get things off my chest so that I feel better. I have to write in a Christ-like manner. That's not always easy to do. The last few days, I've been struggling with this.

Therefore, this morning, recognizing what I was feeling inside, I turned to Psalm 73. The psalmist Asaph faced the same kind of situation I was faced with. He wrote Psalm 73 because he was envious of the prosperity of the wicked people that he knew. He was irked by them. He had tried to live a good life, and he seemed to be getting nowhere, whereas the bad people seemed to get along just fine. However, despite the psalmist's intense feelings about this, he was careful how he expressed his complaint. He had a holy fear of how his words would affect others. He said, "All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence...If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed the generation of Your children." Psalm 73:13,15 The psalmist was restrained in his speaking because of the fear of betraying the people God had put around him.

To think that our words, spoken or written, are powerful enough to betray the generation of people around us is a sobering truth. "Betray" is a strong word. It means to break faith with someone, to deceive them, or to even help their enemy who is against them. I know I would never want to do this to the people around me, and I am confident that you would not want to do that either.

I continued reading Psalm 73 in order to find out what I should talk or write about that proves my loyalty to others. The answer if found very simply and to the point in the last verses of that psalm, but most of all in the last verse. "But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works." Psalm 73:28

In prayer we need to give away our anxieties, complaints, and irritations (the things that irk us) to the Lord to take care of. But to the generation of God's children around us, we need to tell them of the faithfulness of the Lord God as our refuge. By that we prove our loyalty and care for them.

As I struggle in this lonely activity of writing, I know how desperately I'll need God's help to write those things which builds others up. But I know I'm not alone in needing God's help. Any of us who desire to speak or write as Christians will need His help so we aren't sharp, weedy, and barren.