When I was 30, I received my first Bible. It wasn’t something that I’d always wanted; rather, I was curious about something my husband valued—spending daily time reading it. That was a new, unfamiliar, and to be honest, overwhelming idea to me. Even after he gave it to me, several days passed before I made time to give it a try. . . .You would think I was about to attempt reading a foreign language! (All of that story is in my book Becoming A Peaceful Mom.)
That particular time is my life was the most challenging season I had ever faced. In my head, I pushed back, rationalizing that giving some of my time to study scripture would just have to wait. Yet a yearning stirred in my heart, that I felt I had to respond to. There wasn’t a convenient window of time that presented, nor has there been since. I determined to take this step and God made the way.
Why am I sharing this now—at the beginning of December, when the added flurry of gift buying and decorating abounds—as yet another thing to build into your day?
Because . . . This life is busy all the time and hard a lot of the time.
Because . . . God wants to lead you and me through the busy and hard, such that we learn to abide in His Life in us.
Because . . . The world broadcasts many messages that distract us from the most important relationship we are created to have and the most important message we are to believe.
Because . . . God wants you to known Him personally—to know His character, His voice, and the depth of His love for you, for me.
Beginning with the Book of Ruth, I roamed through books of my Bible, journaling facets of God’s character portrayed in amazing and true stories. The more I read, the more I realized how much I didn’t know about God—things He said and did. The more I read the more I was gratified, as He helped me grasp how much He loves me, loves us.
My hesitant start to open God’s breathed-words, became a passionate personal pursuit to know Him. I had no idea what I had been missing. I had no idea how much more this relationship could be. I had no idea of how powerfully God moves through His words.
“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3.16–19)
Lovingly, God waits for us to decide to give Him some of the time that He has given us. He knows our hurdles, as He knew mine. He will lead you through—even during the added busyness of this season.
Dear God,
You see my heart and my thoughts, and you love me right where I am. Thank you. Help me step closer to You, to know you. Amen.
Leave a Reply