Intentional by Sharon Hazel

Are you intentional with your writing?

I only started my online writing journey this spring, it was something that I had planned to explore, so when we went into lockdown, I embraced it. I have had the constant feeling that time is short and I need to make the most of it. I am not making some prophetic statement there, but the fact is I have been furloughed from work and every week I ask the same question, is there a date for my return yet? So far, the answer has been no…but I am very aware that time is running out, the world of work is once again looming!

If I were asked to choose one word to describe the last three months, it would be intentional. I have begun to grasp how intentional you need to be to write every week for a blog – this has come as a surprise. There are many words that I would have expected to encounter on a writing journey but intentional was not one of them.

Intentional to create a space and a place where I can write without too many distractions. Intentional to shut out all the other voices and focus on what I am going to write about this week. Intentional to stop that feeling of panic when, my self-created, deadline day for posting is looming closer and I am still not happy with what I have written - or even worse I have not written anything at all! And then intentional as to where I place my words, apart from my own blog, there are guest posts, daily devotionals, e-zines (is that even a word?), quarterly print magazines, topic specific linkups, a whole new world to be explored. It can be so easy to lose track of what you are trying to achieve.

I believe that God is intentional and as we are created in his image, we are to be intentional too.

I have been pondering on a familiar Bible story…

In the baking heat the man trudged along in the increasingly desiccated beige landscape. There had been no rain now for months, and with a shortage of water everywhere this was not the time to be travelling through desert terrain, searching for just one man. But the king or was it really the queen, many people say she is the real power behind the throne, had given the order and sent the trackers out, not just throughout Judah but also into the neighbouring countries. The ground was becoming increasingly rocky and in one direction lay the Kerith ravine, which involved a steep scramble down onto the valley floor and then many miles of hard walking, over rocks and boulders, before it opened out again. The tracker was aware of a small brook in the valley, so maybe it was a place he should search, but he stopped for a moment, shading his eyes from the glare of the sun, in the distance he could see ravens flying and disappearing from sight as they swooped down into the ravine. The man shuddered, involuntarily, at the sign of death – the ravens would be feeding on some poor dead animal, which probably had died of thirst, the lack of water was decimating the livestock throughout the land. As he continued walking through the punishing heat, he saw the ravens again and again – that made the decision for him, there was obviously nothing alive down there, the brook had probably dried up, a long time ago. He turned away slightly, there was an easier route he could take and still complete his task….

Of course that account is my creative licence, from the story in 1 Kings 17 where God sends Elijah to hide in the Kerith ravine. God informs him that he will be able to drink from the brook and that he will direct ravens to supply him with food. A strange choice as ravens were unclean and the food that they would feed off, carrion, was also unclean…

Elijah is unaware that the queen starts a campaign to kill off the Lord’s prophets and that the king sends men throughout Israel and into every surrounding nation searching for him. It is only when God commands him to return to Samaria, three years later, that he finds out what has been happening in his absence. (1 Kings 18)

I would suggest that God’s intentionality in choosing the ravens to supply Elijah with food, was the fact that their presence would act to misdirect anyone looking to harm him. That God intentionally chose to provide Elijah with food supernaturally, preparing him for what lay ahead, and naturally with water. As the brook began to dry up, it would prepare Elijah for the fact that he could not stay in that safe place for ever, the time was coming when he would have to move on. Sometimes we get comfortable where we are, and we need a push to move us forward.

God does not explain his intentionality, either at the time or even later, we may never be aware of what he is protecting us from. He tells us in his word of his abounding love – demonstrated through Christ – and leaves us the freedom to choose to believe in his goodness.

Soon I will have to move on out of my safe place where I have become comfortable, back into the ‘real’ world of work, dealing with people in a busy environment, and all the changes that will bring. Life may be insecure, and change may be unsettling, but we can find security and peace in knowing that God is intentional towards us and that we have a choice to trust in His plan and purpose for our lives. His timing is always perfect!

Sharon Hazel has always been actively involved in her local church, with a love for Bible study and sharing from God’s word with different groups. She is a wife and mother of two ‘grown-up’ sons and is embracing a new season of her life. Sharon receives inspiration from the beauty of the coastline where she lives in Wales and blogs at https://limitless-horizon.com. Competing for her time, is one very patient husband, a horse, two Jack Russell dogs and a newly developed interest in gardening – oh and not forgetting a part-time job!