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Friends, I am entering a new season, and it feels like a breath of fresh air. The last couple of months have demanded a lot that I didn’t know I had to give. I think a lot of you are there as well.
A lot is changing in every arena, and our family’s daily schedule is one area that just isn’t the same anymore. I don’t know if it’s the change in hubby’s work schedule that has him waking up earlier, or the ages and stages of each of my kiddos, combined with the early sunrise of summer, that has them all up and ready to rumble much earlier than normal, but my quiet time with the Lord, and in my Bible, has been completely absolved.
For a while I was able to nurse my newborn as I prayed over the day, then he would sleep or coo beside me while I read my Bible and prayed. Gone are those magical mornings. Whether it’s a lapse in my parenting, or just the season, the day begins at 6:00 am and there is no finding a quiet gap after that, nor do I have the capacity to wake up at 5:00 and try to have any kind of quality time with the Lord.
HUGE SIGH.
And yet, amidst all these things, I am more convinced than ever before, of the importance of making time to be in God’s word, and in His presence.
Where are you at these days?
As I began to write this blog there were so many things that came to mind. There are so many excuses for not reading our Bibles, and I began to address these, but felt stuck. I felt the Holy Spirit speak plainly to me, the real problem is not that we don’t have time to be in God’s presence, and to meditate on His word, it’s that we don’t truly believe that we NEED time in God’s presence and in His word.
I know for some, reading itself is an area of insecurity.
For others, the Bible might feel difficult to understand at first, and this raises up feelings of inferiority.
Others find it difficult to discipline themselves to sit and read the Bible in their limited free time when they would rather unwind in front of the tv, or sit in the tub with a good book.
The fact of the matter is that we don’t believe our time with the Lord is important enough to overcome our dislike of reading, or our tiredness, or our desire to binge watch our favourite series. Time with the Lord, and the reading of His word are not a NEED in our lives. They are just a “should” “oughta” “will do when..”.
There is very little that makes me want to pick up a 2000 page ancient text when my to-do list is 8 pages long, and I have 5 very loud children running amuck, unless it’s for something more important than my wants and desires. I’m sure you feel the same. To read our Bibles we have to believe that the importance of it outweighs our current level of distraction.
Not only that, but we have to understand that the Bible is not meant to appeal to our flesh, or desires. It was written for the souls of man. Most things that are good for our souls are things we didn’t know we needed until we had them. Vacation time, or stillness in our busy lives is often something we think we don’t have time for, and probably don’t need, it even seems like just a luxury. Yet, anyone who’s taken a vacation knows there is a refreshing, and healing that comes on a soul level when we put the phones and computers away and just bask in the stillness of a moment.
The same is true with God’s word. It’s many little vacations throughout your day, your week, your month.
Surrender your anxiety.
Be still and realize that I am God.
I am God above all the nations,
and I am exalted throughout the whole earth. – Psalm 46:10
This is where I want to appeal to you. You may have never experienced the word of God beyond a flesh level, and that’s ok, but let me tell you, there’s more. It’s like trying to explain the perfect sunset to someone who has never seen it’s magnificence before. It’s beyond beautiful, there aren’t the words to describe it, you’ll just have to trust me until you pick it up and experience it for yourself.
Reading your Bible is unlike reading anything else. It cannot be compared to reading a book, because it doesn’t speak to your flesh. The Bible speaks directly to the soul and resonates with a born-again spirit. The usual excuses aren’t valid here. The only way to read the Bible and get nothing from it, is to do so in the flesh. What does that even mean?
Going back to my initial list of excuses/reasons for not being able to get into the Bible and have quality time with the Lord, here’s what “getting in the flesh” looks like for me. I have expectations based on perfect natural circumstances. I tell myself that I need silence, I need lot’s of time, and I need peace to flood my emotions so I can receive from God through His word. All of which are as rare and unreasonable as unicorns and leprechauns in a house with 7 people and a dog (and currently a basement renter, and 7 baby chicks).
For you it might be that you truly hate reading (it hurts to say, because I just can’t understand that, but I’ll look past this for you my friend). You might be working more hours than you’re even awake in a day, and making quiet time just feels impossible. These are all flesh choices. We will not pick up the word of God, or make the time to be still in His presence if we are waiting for our flesh to choose it for us. We have to understand that our souls NEED it, regardless of what our flesh feels.
Another trap is wrong expectations. I often think that reading the Bible is like reading a novel in that I have to be able to read A LOT of verses to pack A LOT of power inside of me so that I’m full to the brim with Jesus, and therefore, ready to take on the day. So I wake up early, make my coffee, set the mood with some worship music, and curl up in front of my big picture window to observe nature while soaking up God’s goodness in my life. Before the soaking can begin, however, I have a toddler screaming from the top of that stairs that she has to pee, which wakes up the 1-year-old, and gives the other 3 kids full permission to come out of their rooms to let me know they are starving, and their sibling has already physically AND emotionally wounded them. The dog is barking, husband is getting ready for work, a tad late I might add, and asking if I wouldn’t mind helping him pack a lunch, and my Bible sits beside me, still unopened, coffee is getting cold, and I’m mad.
Why am I mad? Because my flesh, my human nature, had a plan, an expectation, a way I wanted it to go. I needed a refreshing, revitalizing, refueling time before a long, exhausting day. Is that bad? No, but neither is that where my refreshing, revitalizing, and refueling was guaranteed to take place. This is the exciting news friends, the Lord is not flesh and blood, which means he is not limited to our time and space, and true refreshing is not an act of our flesh, it begins with a born-again spirit, and a soul brought into alignment.
When we choose to make Jesus our Lord and Savior, and receive the forgiveness for our sins that He died and rose again to provide, we receive a brand new spirit, His spirit. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we receive an infilling that empowers us, teaches us, counsels and encourages us. If we continue to make soul choices, we continue to keep our soul and spirit in agreement. When we choose to make flesh choices, our soul is twisted up between the reborn perfect spirit and the selfish flesh, and confusion, chaos, sickness, and many other evils are given access to our lives.
The Bible is something our hands can hold, our eyes can see, our ears can hear, but only our souls can understand, and only a soul in alignment with a born-again spirit will have revelation power flow within.
That means that the power of God’s word in my life is not released by what I feel, by how many verses I read, by how peaceful and quiet the atmosphere is around me, or how many goosebumps I get in the moment. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we do get a few precious moments, in the eye of the storm, when God’s presence feels even more tangible, and it feels like we’ve really truly awakened to a new spiritual plane. But those moments are not the ones we build our lives upon.
They are the milestones, the parties, celebrations, declarations of love and commitment, but they are not the housekeeping, business building, family forming, conflict resolving, growth moments of our lives. If we are always striving for a magical moment, we will completely miss the power tucked into the folds of consistency and genuine love.
It is the moments when I lock myself in my room while my children eat cereal, to pull out the small notebook beside my bed and read the scripture I wrote out a few days earlier that really encouraged me, that I experience the nearness of God. It’s when I whisper “I love you Lord,” as I’m folding the fifth pile of laundry for the day and I feel His peace rest on me, that I know He will always be enough. It’s when hardship comes, and something in me just knows that it will all be ok, that I am reminded that He’s been teaching and preparing me all along, even though I wasn’t able to spend the 9 solid hours alone with him that I desired.
If you need something to compare a relationship with the Lord, and time in His word to, marriage was the model God Himself gave us. In marriage there is a forever commitment. There is a public declaration, a celebration, and a honeymoon. There are butterflies, magical moments under the stars, dreams and plans, laughter and young love. But then, there is real life, unexpected circumstances, bills, babies, no babies, grief, stress, joy, pain, loss, laughter, fights, and fixes. It is in the day to day ups and downs that we grow deeper in love, or further apart. It’s a conscious effort, or lack of effort.
My husband can be standing in the same room as me and yet we can both feel completely alone, even abandoned or unloved by each other if we haven’t made room for connection. If I never make eye contact, or tell him that I love him, or ask him how he is doing, how can we feel close? Truthfully, even physical intimacy will feel hollow and meaningless if there are no words shared. It’s only that, physical.
God’s word is His moment of connection, it’s Him reaching out to reveal your innermost parts, the ones you don’t even know are there, to you. It’s His way of holding up a mirror to all that you are, and calling you Perfect, Redeemed, Whole, even though you see failing mother, failing employee, failing at life. He speaks over you what HE sees, and what He has created within you. These are the secrets that only God knows about you, and only God can draw out of you.
Our souls, which are our minds, wills, and emotions, need words! They need to hear, and they need to speak before they can believe. It is the things we hear that plant seeds in our minds, and influence our emotions. It is the things we speak that confirm in our souls what we truly believe about a thing. I may have a million positive affirmations floating around in my mind, but the moment that I open my mouth to say “I suck, I fail, I quit” I display my soul’s true condition.
My ears believe what they hear my mouth speak. Maybe not always the first time, but they challenge my soul to figure it out. The more we speak a lie the more we believe it’s true. The same is true of Truth. The more our ears hear us speaking it, the more it becomes in our souls. When our mind, wills, and emotions believe God’s truth, our bodies reap the rewards of health, peace, joy, strength, love, abundance in every way.
We need time with the Lord, to be still in His presence, but we also need His word to speak over every moment of our lives. It’s fellowship, connection, intimacy of the soul. Real connection.
In my marriage, there are seasons, and ups and downs, and growth and change. I have to intentionally make the time to tell my husband what I love about him, and how grateful I am for him. Sometimes a simple, “I love you” and a kiss in passing is all that we can make the time for, and yet we have to make the time for it. Then there are the moments when my husband looks at me with a softness in his eyes, and he says, “Babe, I really love you, I’m so grateful that you’re mine”, and I know that he means it in a fresh way. It changes how I respond to him. It changes the feelings, the communication, the connection between us. There is a closeness that comes. He was still my husband, even when I felt distant from him, but he is my husband in a new way from that day on. There is a new depth of connection, growth and maturity.
God never leaves you, nor forsakes you, and His spirit dwells within you, closer than anyone or anything can ever be, and yet He may feel distant without intentional connection.
You don’t have to love reading to read your Bible.
You don’t need a formal education.
You don’t even have to fully understand everything you read.
You just have to love Jesus. You have to need Jesus.
If you don’t need Jesus, you don’t need your Bible, and you’ll miss out on the benefits of being in a relationship with a perfect lover, who is selfless in every way.
Sit down to read your Bible for no other reason than that you desire to show the One who loves you the most that you return His love. Regardless of circumstances, regardless of the atmosphere, or how much time you actually get, or how many verses you read, let it be what it is, a gift, a blessing, alive, active, and powerful, because it’s from Him to you. Let it be an act of love, like a kiss and an encouraging word.
If Jesus is not Lord of your life, it is time. He is not a domineering Lord. He is a loving, gentle, patient, kind Lord who desires to walk in relationship with you. He loves you more deeply than you’ve ever been loved, or ever will be loved. You will never regret His reign in your life.
Let go of religion, it is the death of love and intimacy. Let go of apathy, it will rob you of the fullness you were created to experience. God has not created us in order to have little puppets he can manipulate and control. He is not waiting to punish all who break the rules. The desire of God’s heart is to love you and be loved by you.
His word is how he reveals His perfect plan and His perfect love. Walk in His ways and you will never be alone. Life isn’t perfect, or easy, but when God’s word is a non-negotiable in our everyday life, there is nothing that can derail us. When we remain in constant connection, constant growth and commitment, our love only deepens. His love is limitless. We can never reach the end of it, but we can continually be overwhelmed by it, enjoy the beauty of it, and walk through the valley of the shadow of death wrapped up in it.
The Bible isn’t something we should do because we feel obligated. A relationship with the Lord God Almighty, cannot be entered into halfway, or because of guilt or religious duty. He’s an all or nothing kind of love. He’s either the Lord of your life, or He isn’t, and there is a big difference between the two.
Let Him love you, fully. Let Him speak over you. Soak up His every word, because it is life and love to your weary soul.
I am finding a new normal in this season of chaotic schedules. It doesn’t always look the same. It’s not always as long, or as full as I wish it could be, but it’s always precious. It is the aim of my life that God would always be the first to hear me say, “Good morning, Lord. I love you”, and the last to hear “Good night, I love you more.”
There is no love like God’s love for us. It’s poured out in His every word.
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