Writing a Devotional

I have long aspired to write a devotional of some sort, and so I was pleased to receive just such an opportunity this winter. Luther Seminary contacted me shortly before Christmas, telling me that my name had been suggested as a potential author and asking if I would be willing to write a week’s worth of God Pause devotions. I promptly responded in the affirmative and chose the week of April 15-21, which would use the scripture texts for the Fourth Sunday in Easter of the Revised Common Lectionary. The finished devotions were due to the seminary five weeks before publication. That meant the beginning of March.

Such is the nature of writing devotionals, which provides a major challenge: submissions are always due well in advance, which means you are working on them in a completely different season than the one in which you currently exist. In my case, this meant writing Easter devotions at the beginning of Lent. To do this, you have to force your head to be somewhere else; that’s not always easy.

Another challenge to writing a devotional is that it is a lot more work than meets the eye. I did not keep track of how much time I spent preparing, writing, and editing each devotional, but I am sure it averaged at least one to two hours each, perhaps more. I knew this would be the case so I made sure I started early.

A final challenge for penning a devotional, much as it is for most writing projects, is that there is a word limit placed on each submission. (Except for term papers in college and seminary, there is always a maximum amount specified for writing projects, never a minimum.) In the case of God Pause, it is 150 words. That sounds like a lot until you actually begin writing. I have always known that it is harder to “write short” than “write long,” and my suspicions were confirmed.

Yet, in spite of the challenges, it is rewarding to write. For me, writing is one way that I can know what I think. Also, there is a sense of satisfaction in editing your work one last time and sending it off on a wing and a prayer, hoping that your words will mean half as much to someone else as they do to you. In this case, I pray that God has spoken in, with, and through these words to bring a blessing to someone else. That is not only a hope, but a promise that God brings.

Thanks for reading.