One day when I was reading my Bible the Lord led me to find the Hebrew word Revach, which means to breathe freely, to revive, to have ample room, to be extended, and to be refreshed. It also means deliverance and liberation from distress. This word is found in Ester 4:14 where Mordachi tells Ester, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from a different place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have attained royalty for such a time as this?”

   I remember how the meaning of this word touched my heart after the birth and death of our fourth child, Nicholas, due to Trisomy 13, a genetic disorder. A friend had given me a journal and encouraged me to write about the loss of our son. Although I didn’t pick that journal up right away, I eventually filled the pages with words about Nicholas and later about the birth of his little sister, Anna. Keeping a journal was a new experience and very comforting.

    To me the word Revach speaks figuratively of the pages of our journals. We are refreshed and renewed as we slow down to journal our life stories and spiritual walk. It is here that we are revived as we see and remember the hand of the Lord in our lives. There is ample room to express to Him what is on our hearts. Our journal pages become a record of deliverance and answered prayers. We have liberation from distress as we see how God faithfully uses our trials, past and present, to conform us to the image of Christ.

   Like Ester, we too have been called forth for such a time as this. In the midst of an ungodly generation, the Lord has called us to be the keepers and overseers of our children’s hearts. We must not remain silent when it comes to giving testimony to what the Lord has done for our families. To give testimony we must remember. And to leave a spiritual heritage for generations to come we must write our testimony down. “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.” (Malachi 3:16)                                                 

                                                                                                              
Father,

   You are the Living Word. Help us to draw near to you in the pages of our journals and lead us to Revach.  

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Jill Novak
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