Sometimes I think about something that stops me in my tracks.
What if the writers of the Bible had simply given in to their flesh?
What if they had chosen comfort instead of obedience?
What if they had decided the cost was too high, the work too difficult, or the audience too hostile?
Many of the men God used to write Scripture did not live easy lives. In fact, obedience often made their lives harder, not easier.
Consider Moses. God used him to write the first books of the Bible while he was leading a stubborn and complaining nation through the wilderness. The task was exhausting and often discouraging.
David wrote many of the Psalms while hiding in caves, fleeing from enemies, and crying out to God in distress.
Jeremiah faithfully delivered God’s warnings to Judah, even though his message made him deeply unpopular. He was mocked, beaten, and imprisoned. Yet he still wrote the words God gave him.
The apostle Paul wrote many of the letters in the New Testament while suffering persecution and imprisonment. Some of the most encouraging passages of Scripture came from a man writing in chains.
And the apostle John wrote the book of Revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos.
None of these men had perfect circumstances.
None of them waited for the right mood, the right timing, or the right audience.
They obeyed.
Scripture reminds us that the Bible did not originate from human ambition or personal inspiration:
“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
~2 Peter 1:21 (NKJV)
God inspired the message, but those men still had to choose faithfulness. They had to speak. They had to write. They had to pick up the pen.
When I think about that, it challenges me.
Because if they had allowed their flesh to win…if they had chosen comfort, silence, or fear…how much of Scripture would we be missing today?
How many psalms of comfort would never have been written?
How many warnings, promises, and testimonies would have been lost?
Of course, no one today is writing Scripture. God’s Word is complete. But believers are still called to share truth, testify to what God has done, and use the gifts He has given us.
For some, that gift is speaking.
For others, it is teaching.
For some of us, it is writing.
That doesn’t mean our words will reach millions of people. It doesn’t mean the response will always be encouraging. Sometimes faithfulness simply means showing up and doing the work God has placed in front of us.
The size of the audience is not the measure of obedience.
Faithfulness is.
The writers of Scripture did not wait for perfect conditions. They trusted God with the outcome and simply obeyed the calling placed before them.
They picked up the pen.
And perhaps the question we should ask ourselves today is this:
What truth might remain hidden if we keep giving in to the flesh?
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