Making Room for Scripture

Once upon a time there was a tired mom who was struggling.  The kids needed her, her husband needed her, the house needed her, her commitments needed her.  She began to be angry and short tempered.  Sometimes, the littlest things brought her to tears.  It was then that she realized she was missing something.  She was worn out from doing things for other people and not doing the things that mattered most. 

You see, because this tired mom doesn't like to let people down, she was serving in her church in multiple capacities that she often didn't actually get to attend the church service.  Not only that, she was tired. all. the time, and she began to struggle with getting things done like the housework and her Bible study.  She was on empty. She found that when she had a few minutes to sit, she binged watched her favorite show instead of other things.  She was running on fumes and it was taking her toll.  She knew she had to make some changes.

So she learned to say no to things that she didn't have to do  and said yes to the things that mattered and she learned a lot about herself and her Savior. 

You see, that tired mom was me. 

My tank was on empty and my family suffered.  I had to humble myself and ask for help when I needed it.  Once a month, my Mother-in-law came and watched my boys so I could go have some much needed me-time.  I packed my tote bag with my Ipad and notebook and headed to the local coffee shop, where I could dig deep into God's Word.  The distraction of people and things needing my attention was gone and I could sit, read, write, and be refreshed.  Also, I got to enjoy my coffee without setting it down to become cold and forgotten. 

The old me had filled my days with so many things that I was not leaving room for the thing that mattered most.  Time with God.  Sure, we had conversations throughout the day. . . a lot of them like this:
 " Give me patience with these kids, Lord."
 "Keep them safe, Lord."
"Give me the energy to make dinner"

I wasn't giving God my whole me and I was missing out on God's best.

Last Sunday, our Pastor spoke on Money, and in that sermon, he talked about tithing.  It got me thinking that if giving God the first fruits of our finances is an act of obedience and trust of God's provision, then why don't we give God the first fruits of our time? 

I sure wasn't. 

There are 24 hours in a day.  We sleep for part of that.  We work, we cook, we clean, we run errands, we serve,. We schedule in Girls Nights and play dates. Are we scheduling in time with God. . . the very one who created us for a relationship with him?  Or are we giving him our leftovers or anything at all?

I sure wasn't.  

The funny thing was that I had wiser women, who were ahead of me in life, who patted me on the back and told me, "It's okay.  This is the season of life you are in." I can't even begin to tell you how often I heard this and still do.  There will always be a season in our lives that will make it hard to take the time.  The thing I learned as I started saying no to things and giving myself time to sit down and read the Bible was that any excuse to NOT get into the Word is a lie.  No matter the season your life finds you in at this very moment, there is never an excuse to skip studying God's Word on your own.  It is the very thing that fuels us.  There is power in God's Word that can get you through the day, through a hard patch, an illness, or your busy commitments.  It is God's Word written down for us to read.  He doesn't have to communicate with us via prophets or Old Testament Priests anymore.  We have the Holy Spirit to guide us and encourage us through Scripture.  We need to make God's Word a priority in our lives.

Once I started taking time to dig into Scripture, I changed.  I didn't rush to say yes to everything anymore.  I was more relaxed and wasn't loosing my temper as often.  Things were better.  I was enjoying the things I was saying yes to and  I found myself craving scripture.  I wasn't reading the Bible because it's what a good Christian does, I was reading it because I loved it.  God loved us so much that he breathed his word into some godly men and they wrote it down.  His heart for his people (us) is in that Bible and it's how we grow. 

My kids are growing like crazy and are always hungry.  We keep our pantry stocked with healthy options to feed their growing bodies.  I like to think that our relationship with God is like a growing kid.  My kids will become tired and hangry without proper meals and snacks.  We, too, become hangry for God's Word. The Bible uses food a lot.   Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35) and we need to go to him to be fed. We need to feed that growing relationship with God daily, just like our kids need to eat to grow into young men and women. 

So I thought I would share a few strategies/resources to help you get into God's Word daily. 

1.  Look at your schedule.  On busy days, I actually write in how I am going to study Scripture that day into my planner.  It's one of my check marks I make.   See when and where studying God's Word works best for you.  Most of the time, I do mine at night,  because most of my distractions are already done with and my mind can focus.

2.  Set an alarm.  I've heard that it takes 28 consecutive days to make something a habit.  That is a little less than a month, but I promise that committing to reading the Bible daily will be life changing.  If it doesn't change you, write me a letter.  Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to read the Bible.  Don't hit the snooze button and put off your commitment.  There will be another excuse each time you put it off.  The more committed you become, the more you will find you crave that time with God.

3.  Join a Bible Study Group.  Commit to joining a Bible Study and do the daily homework.  So many women come weekly to Bible studies, yet don't fully commit, and wonder why they didn't get a whole lot out of a study.  There is so much food in between session of a Bible Study that you will miss out on if you don't take that daily time to spend with God. 

4.  Get an accountability partner.  Ask someone close to you to keep you accountable to studying the Bible.  Meet weekly or monthly to check in with each other.  Pray for each other that God would use your daily dates with God to nourish your soul and grow you closer to Him. 

5.  Don't give up.  Getting into the habit is hard work.  There are tons of things that call out for us to do instead of reading the Bible, but if you fail (I still am working on this), just get back up and start again.  We aren't perfect, God doesn't expect perfection or even a legalistic approach to reading scripture.  Read because you want to get to know your Heavenly Father better.  If you skip a day or two, get back up and continue.

I am praying for each of you!  Let me know how you are doing or even what your studying!  Let's keep each other accountable!