I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. 3 John 13

This same heart desire in Paul is mentioned also in 2 John 12. His preference is face to face rather than pen and ink.

Surely it is the same heart desire for us today in 2020 when face to face is less than we are accustomed to.

Yet when we study the life of Paul we see often letters and books written while He is unable to fulfill the heart desire of “face to face.”

It, too, is my heart’s desire to go eyeball to eyeball with hurting hearts but lately, the Lord is pressing me into the “pen and ink.” Funny that my daily reading would bring me face to face with the same longing as Paul beautifully states.

I suppose Paul could have stayed in a waiting mode until the face to face came-but he did not. He did what he could to encourage the brethren. So he picked up the pen and ink.

Waiting a thing out does not equal being idle. We may still do the work of the ministry even if it comes down to pen and ink.

It is my belief that God is calling for the scribes who are ready scribes. Those who are willing to release the heart of God with pen and ink. But why?

Listen, we have enough self-help books that feed the flesh. We need Jesus and we need Him anyway, and every way, we can get Him.

I’ve found that the pen and ink can give a receiver private dignity while simultaneously being convicted of sin. Preaching can absolutely be fruitful through pen and ink.

Sermons in script can still shoot straight to the needy heart in a way spoken words may be unable to.

Think of the number of times that tears ran down your face as you read an anointed word on the written page. The Bible, itself, is the written word. Jesus, The Word, in black and white revealed through pen and ink.

Pen and ink have fed many a lonely heart as they scour the pages of the Bible. Embedded in every dotted “i” and crossed “t” are truths that break into the hardest of hearts and the most wounded souls.

Pen and ink have long been a deep well of water for Christ to manifest Himself to an unsuspecting reader.

Sometimes, we dismiss the power in mere pen and ink. Perhaps, Paul did as well.

Culture has a bent towards public fancies and pivotal preachings all of which are greatly used by God but do not, dear one, dismiss the power of pen and ink.

Locked away on Patmos was a man instructed to write what he saw. Here comes the book of Revelation that would be read for generations. Hidden away for a season was John writing feverishly Heaven’s utterings with the power of pen and ink.

I am a “hard-copy print” kind of girl. I like to hold a book in my hand and refer back to it over and over. It represents moments in my life where Christ had me in training for a certain lesson from His own heart. Every underlined word and starred paragraph was critical to my life with Christ.

Oh hide me away King of Glory

That I may taste and see

Open Heaven’s vault of words

Pour them into me.

Use me as a ready scribe

Releasing Thine own heart

Wait I do with pen and ink

The trumpet heard by John.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. Revelation 1:10