The Post I Didn't Want to Write
I rolled over on a Sunday morning and noticed the date on my alarm clock, January 29th. A wave of panic set in as I realized I hadn't prepared the February 2023 Inscribe the Word plan. I jumped out of bed, my eyes barely opened, and wondered, "Where did this month go"?
After making myself a cup of coffee, I opened my work bag. I looked inside for my hard drive, which holds all of Symphony of Praise from 2016 to the present. Every graphic, Bible study, Inscribe the Word plan, Flourish video, blog post, and all my notes from the past seven years are on that hard drive. It wasn't in my bag.
In a panic, I searched my desk, closets, my old work bag, my couches . . . nothing.
Thinking I had left it at the theater, I jumped into my car and quickly went to our theater. It wasn't there.
That hard drive never leaves my bag. It is always there securely, waiting to be used.
That morning, it was gone. "Okay, Lord. What are you trying to get me to see."
I quietly prayed as I sat in my quiet car with tears streaming down my face. For over a year, I have been praying about the future of A Symphony of Praise. Feeling a shift in my heart regarding this ministry, I have been seeking the Lord about what He wants for this small space on the internet.
On January 29th, I finally listened to the answer He had been whispering. I wish I could tell you The Holy Spirit miraculously revealed the location of the hard drive, and the February plan is attached to this post.
He didn't.
In fact, I believe He revealed something that is breaking my heart to write . . .
The Lord is asking me to lay down A Symphony of Praise (SOP) for a season.
I have felt the shift coming.
I have heard His whispering.
I hadn't wanted to hear it mainly because I didn't want to disappoint all of you dear followers, friends, and companions on this journey to becoming like Jesus.
I know that many of you use our Inscribe the Word plans as a springboard for your morning quiet time with the Lord and that it has become a part of your morning routine. I am genuinely grateful that something I started for the deepening of my own walk with the Lord has been a blessing to so many around the world.
A Symphony of Praise has become the hub of Inscribe the Word, our monthly Scripture writing plans I have been putting together for the past seven years. But this site, this ministry, didn't start out as a hub for Inscribe the Word (ITW). Instead, ITW has taken over A Symphony of Praise. It was only supposed to be a small portion of this ministry.
And while I love our ITW plans, I believe there is something more to what the Lord has written for my story and for the story of this ministry.
Losing or misplacing that hard drive on the morning of January 29th led me to stop, rest, pray, and re-evaluate things The Holy Spirit has been nudging me toward, but I've been too preoccupied to listen and too worried about disappointing all of you to obey what He has been showing me.
What This Means.
As of February 1, 2023, I will pause my work here at A Symphony of Praise and will not produce any more Inscribe the Word plans.
What This Doesn't Mean.
I am going to stop writing. "To everything there is a season," and while A Symphony of Praise might be at the end of its flourishing season, I do not feel The Holy Spirit is calling me to stop this ministry completely.
I will take some time to pray and seek the Lord as to how He wants me to continue writing and sharing with you, whether on the internet via blogs, social media, or through another medium like video or podcasting.
What about Inscribe the Word?
This year, I planned on creating plans for you based on Charles Spurgeons' Morning By Morning devotional. While I won't be making any more plans, you can easily create them yourself. Take the daily Scripture verse in Spurgeon's devotional and write out that verse, plus a few before or after, as you sense The Holy Spirit leading you.
As I said earlier, many of you use these plans for your daily quiet time. It would break my heart, and I'd see my work over these past seven years as a failure if that quiet time with Jesus stopped because I didn't put out a piece of paper every month for you to download.
You can absolutely create your own plans from Morning By Morning. But more important than the Scripture Writing and the ITW plans is that you spend time with Jesus in His Word daily. You don't need a devotional, a Scripture Writing plan, or a fancy journal and pen to do that. You need a willing heart, a Bible, and the presence of The Holy Spirit, which He promised is with us always.
But I want the plans.
If the ITW plans are centering and give you a direction and focus, you can find all of our past plans cataloged at this link: https://asymphonyofpraise.com/blog/itw.
If you are on our email list, I will continue to email you monthly to check in, give you updates, and keep this connection going. So many of you have meant so much to me, and we have become sisters and friends in the Lord. I don't want this community to stop, and I don't feel The Holy Spirit is leading in that direction. If you’d like to join our email list to see what’s coming next, sign up at the bottom of our home page.
When The Holy Spirit led me to my word for 2023, crucify, I never thought A Symphony of Praise would be one of those things He wanted me to lay down.
However, as my dear husband keeps reminding me, after the pain of crucifixion is the glory of resurrection. I am waiting with great anticipation for the resurrection of this ministry. This time, more guided by The Holy Spirit and less driven by Erika.