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"...Write this for a memorial in a book..."  Ex. 17:14

Repeatedly throughout the Old Testament God told the Israelites to make memorials so that they would remember the works that He had done on their behalf.  Even the Bible is a memorial written by God so that His Word would not become distorted in the retelling, guarding the truth for all time.

There is tremendous power in making an on-going memorial in your own life.  Keeping a journal is a great way to do this.  Journaling dramatically increases the impact of God's operation in our lives for several reasons.

The first benefit of keeping a journal is the one already mentioned -- making a memorial.  Keeping a journal provides a tangible marker to return to in times of discouragement or doubt.   Over time, it builds up a valuable resource.  When God shows you something insightful it often seems so significant that you feel you couldn't possibly forget.  But later the newness wears off and other circumstances come and go.  The insight that was so fresh when God gave it gets lost in the shuffle of life.  If you are keeping a journal, you can look back next week, next month, or next year and remind yourself exactly what God showed you about a particular issue in your life.   This also limits Satan's ability to steal away the light God has given.  Satan wants to keep God's children from walking in intimacy and victory with God.  He will use whatever means is available, including our own simple human inability to remember clearly.

Another benefit of keeping a journal is that it provides a safe place to pour out the thoughts and feelings that can be destructive when they are locked up inside.  When you're going through a trial or crisis sometimes the thoughts and feelings can just sit churning in your mind.  And Satan also likes to use the power of a secret to keep you locked up.  The power of exposing to the light what is in secret works even for fairly insignificant things.  Just the simple act of bringing it out into the light before God on paper can release Satan's hold.  When you put your thoughts and feelings onto paper you acknowledge the feelings and sometimes you're able to immediately see the truth about the situation and the turmoil vanishes.  It works even better when you address your thoughts specifically to your Father.  It becomes a written prayer and it turns from being a self-focused exercise to an act of worship.  Instead of you trying to figure it out, you turn to God to show you the truth.

A side benefit of dumping the "stuff" that's filling your mind onto paper can be learning to be completely honest with God about your secret feelings.  For some reason we tend to think that God will be displeased with us if we actually tell Him the truth about how we feel.  But look at the Psalms again.  Look past the poetic structure and the King James English to see what David said.   He told God He was angry and depressed.   He was honest about the fact that he felt abandoned by God.  He was honest with God about the fact that he was so mad at people who had hurt him he wanted them dead.  God is omniscient -- He knows everything.  He knows the truth about our feelings.  He is not shocked by them or displeased that we have them.  In fact, He created all our emotions in HIS image!  He has emotions too. 

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