by David Scott Robertson
The year was 1987. It was one of the greatest years of my life. That was the year I married my best friend, Monica Ann Lambert. Seventeen years later, we're still going strong.
Something else that's still going strong is my writing and sharing these "Thoughts About God." 1987 was the year that God used to form in me the desire and discipline to write "Thoughts" like those I share with hundreds on a weekly basis via the internet.
I have never put in writing what I am about to share right now.
It was in 1987 that I felt the irresistable tug of the Holy Spirit to embark on a writing project. In retrospect, I know now that the Lord was teaching me valuable lessons that would last the remainder of my life span. At the time, however, I was a bit overwhelmed at the assignment I felt the Lord had given me. But I did it anyway and God proved His faithfulness and resources are more than enough.
The assignment was to write a "Thought About God" every day for a year. Yes, 365 thoughts at the rate of one a day.
I wrote each day of my honeymoon on a cruise in the Bahamas. I wrote every day I went to work. I wrote one each Sunday I went to church. I wrote one every rainy, snowy, hot day in 1987. I wrote one "Thought About God" every single day without exception. New Year's Eve came and went and the mission was accomplished.
With God's help, we did it! But there's more...
God also impressed on me to do another writing project in 1987. More "thoughts." This time the assignment was to write 365 thoughts in a month's time. I did the math and it was about 12 thoughts per day.
But you know what? It happened! With God's help, we did it! But there's more...
Again God impressed on me to do another writing project in 1987. Still more "thoughts." This time the assignment was to write 365 thoughts in a week's time. I did the math and it was about 52 thoughts per day.
Gasp! Talk about overwhelmed! Talk about stretching your faith! But I know I heard the Lord on this one so I took a week's vacation from work, bought lots of groceries to tide me over and locked myself in my apartment for a week (this was before I married Monica) and began to type on my computer.
But you know what? It happened! With God's help, we did it! But there's more...
By the way, did I mention to you that all three of these assignments were to occur simultaneously?
Here was my writing quota:
January 1-7, 1987- God inspired and enabled me, by His divine power and through the wisdom of His Holy Spirit to write 52 + 12 + 1 = 65 "Thoughts About God" per day for a week.
January 8-31, 1987 - God inspired and enabled me, by His divine power and through the wisdom of His Holy Spirit to write 12 + 1 = 13 "Thoughts About God" per day for the remainder of the month.
February 1 - December 31, 1987- God inspired and enabled me, by His divine power and through the wisdom of His Holy Spirit to write a "Thought About God" per day for a year.
But you know what? It happened! With God's help, we did it! But there's more...
I'm just going to tell you straight out what happened. (I've never written this before nor shared this in a public forum like I'm about to do now.)
In September of 1986, God began dealing with me about writing 365 "Thoughts About God" in a single day. Impossible? It is with man but nothing is impossible with God. After the necessary confirmations that I needed and the word of the Lord on the matter solidly settled in my heart, on September 12, 1986, God walked with me through a miracle.
For 23 hours and 52 minutes straight I sat at the computer to write 365 thoughts about God. No food. No phone. I paused only to use the bathroom. About 10 hours into the writing assignment, I did the math and calculated that I could not possibly finish. I slumped back in my chair in front of the PC and quit. I told God it was too much. I alleged that He had commanded me to do something that was literally and physically impossible. I wouldn't blame God for my failure, I would reckon that I misheard His voice. But that's not what happened.
At the moment I quit and resigned to failure, it started. What "it" was felt like hot oil being poured on my head. It started at the crown of my head and flowed like warm honey down my entire body all the way to my feet. When it reached my feet I felt energy begin pumped into my body and I sat up with renewed strength and a renewed mind and a renewed heart and began to write for another 13 hours or so straight.
When I keyed in Thought #365, my time clock read 23 hours and 52 minutes. God helped me finish early!
That was the day I lived inside a miracle! Nobody and no thing can ever take that experience away from me.
Why did that all happen? Why did God orchestrate these bizarre series of writing assignments? Why am I sharing it with you seventeen years later?
I'm not exactly sure. I have a thought rising up from within my spirit on this subject though. I think that God used the year 1987 and especially 1986 to teach me about faith, discipline, anointing, and miracles. I think He set before me a task so large that both he and I knew it would take divine intervention to pull it off. And that's exactly what happened.
Some day, God willing, my dream is to publish all my thoughts in a book. Would you believe me if I told you that sometimes I have to cry out to God to help me write one unique and freshly inspired thought per week to share with you? Imagine that!
But I am never overwhelmed and never afraid that God won't come through. Why? Because I lived through 1986 and 1987 and God did extraordinary things in that season of my life.
For whatever reason, I share this part of my life with you to encourage you to reach for God always and never fear the impossible. God will always pick up where our strength leaves off.
In the weeks to come and from time to time, I will pull from my archives one of the 1,460 thoughts that I wrote during the '86-'87 season of miracles. It is my hope that they will bless you as much reading them as I was in writing them.
DSR
2/2/04