Research shows it takes twenty one days for a habit to form and after that it becomes more natural. Perhaps those are our neuron receptors that we rewiring and removing old pathways that we have been comfortable and familiar with.
Twenty one days.
Writing has always been a source of life for me, yet without time and space, it becomes just another thing that begs to do. Creativity and writing requires a clear head, time and is held in place with consistency but doesn’t life beg us of these same things?
Write. Write. Write.
The beginning of the year the Lord kept bringing me back to my roots, echoing the call to write in the small moments of my day and as I hit my pillow at night, yet the words were lacking and time was sparse as I started working full time. Reworking schedules and roles is no easy task (refer back to the first sentences) but if you are reading this you are not stranger to the effort reworking takes because we are living in 2020, which has had more changes in 21 days than most of our lives I am sure.
At the initial mention of gathering writing back into my routine, my mind is like those of my children as they see the mess they have made before them and say it is too much to clean. Sometimes the very things that God calls us to feel like too much. The very things that will bring us to our knees and give us new life are the very things we remind him are too hard and require more than we can do.
Then the Word springs up with more truth than the banter of the lies:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Nine months have passed since the call back and I have hardly written a thing; though the year is not over and the call is still there like it was in the beginning. Only now I am again reworking timing and dusting off the keypad, literally. I am weak but I cling to the truth that it is only in the weakness that the Lord can show his strength.
Does it take effort, wisdom, guidance and structure and a certain amount of steadiness? Absolutely. His grace is sufficient and it is the Lord who continues to give strength is the very areas I fall short.
This month is our annual #findthejoytoday takeover – one of my favorite times - as we encourage one another, using words to piece together encouragement despite our circumstances and raise up an army of praises to God.
Our words have power and weight. If you have never joined in the #findthejoytoday takeover, I hope you will join us this year and gain a new habit that has the power to rewire your brain and bring about better health. I love how God wired us and throughout scripture share the importance of renewing our minds in the Spirit.
Praying we continue to use them to build each other up, even when we are lacking strength ourselves. May we trust God will provide for us and more when we seek to do the hard things and trust him in the process.