Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny and elusive thing. There are times when it swings in like the wind and it blows all around filling those around with strength, passion and a will to move forward. But if missed, it will blow out the flame that it once fanned leaving a smoldering wick that does nothing but send up a trail of smoke until the ember is completely dead.

For me, writing works like that. There are times that I think about all the things I want to say and I am filled with the exact words... formulating sentences in my mind, sentences that are filled with the magic they create within my own head. If I do not grab a hold of that inspiration at the moment I have caught it, it slips away leaving me with nothing left to say.

I imagine Elijah, sitting in the cave on the heals of his greatest spiritual victory and yet he is feeling sorry for himself and hiding from his own fears. He is looking for something that God doesn't want to give him. He is looking for something spectacular, but it is something small and insignificant that is used to catch his attention. Jonah ran from God and God caught a hold of him sending him reluctantly in the right direction, moving him forward to lead the greatest revival the world may have ever seen. But that wasn't enough to make Jonah happy. He went away and pouted, missing the greatness that God had done.

I have so many missed opportunities in my life. I so easily allow the distractions of my day to sweep me away and cause me to lose my inspiration. The truth is, I catch it in strange places, and I often find myself unprepared to do anything with it. I pray to remember the words that God has given me and yet they fade quietly into the recess of my mind. It leaves me hoping someday the color of ink will hit the page and those images will spring back to life, but alas, I think they are gone forever.

So how was it for the writers of scripture? When they sat down to record a story or write a letter, did they understand the significance of what they were doing? Did they ever miss their opportunity distracted by the cares of the world? Did they hear the voice of God actually speaking as they wrote or was it just thoughts going down on paper without any understanding that their words were going to be immortalized for eternity? When David wrote of his difficult time of despair and discouragement so great that his heart felt that it would burst- did he understand that those words were pointing a way to the Messiah? That he was actually feeling the feelings that His savior would feel in times to come? When Paul wrote his letters to Timothy or to the churches around the known world, was he aware of the fact that one day those letters would be bound together to effect the world forevermore? What must it have been like to hear the voice of God and write down the words He was telling them?

I think I can only have a glimpse of what it was they were feeling or thinking. I know that my words aren't scripture and they won't ever have the impact that the Peter's words have. I do know when however, the words aren't mine; when the images that flow from my brain to may paper can't possibly have anything to do with me. I become a catalyst, thankful that this time, the inspiration didn't pass me by.