The Bible has always been of interest to me, but I always had a lot of apathy toward reading any of it. Reading has been a struggle for me my whole life and growing up Catholic, it’s not traditional to teach the discipline of studying scripture. I prayed for a deeper hunger for His word and over the past three of four months it has all started to come to life for me. I have not only started to understand the Bible, but I have this personally unprecedented desire to read it.
I then began praying for assistance to understand it and nearly right away my church presented some unique options. A small group opportunity teaching the storylines of the Bible from start to finish as well as a study on Acts taught by a seminary professor with a focus on cross cultural ministry – Come on, REALLY?!!
I couldn’t believe – but then I could – how tangibly He has answered my prayer. I joined both groups and have found one to be quite stretching and the other to be an incredible environment where I am free to ask a hundred questions. God also placed me with a roommate who knows the Word so well and is always willing to talk it out with me.
Like all stories, as my desire to experience scripture grew, so did the pile of things keeping me from it.
I entered the season of Lent stretched thin, tired and burnt out from work and commitments. I was barely spending time in the word or in prayer and I felt pretty distant from God to the point that I wanted to scream. I felt like we were moving perfectly parallel to each other and never intersecting. I thought about the noise surrounding me and I realized I could replace a lot of it with more God. I felt called to give up most social media (obviously not this Blog) and watching YouTube videos. I went back and forth on it for a while, not wanting to make a such a sacrifice – my biggest source of entertainment. Why don’t I fast from my job instead? Is that a thing people do?
I finally agreed and decided to focus the extra time on going to bed earlier and spending the mornings more intentionally with God. Over the past week I realized I don’t really have time to watch a lot of YouTube, but I make the time by not sleeping and thus not having time with God in the morning. We make time for the things that are important to us don’t we? So this season I am making time for scripture because it is important.
God gives us the Word as a tool to (among many reasons) show us His heart, draw us in closer and reveal His image in our own lives. Through the Word we can grow confidently in love – finding new strength within ourselves and honestly, this all I really want.
On Saturday it snowed all day long so I spent the day inside with my cousin Sarabrynn. She told me she had almost gotten to the point where she could do a headstand. I watched her do it and felt like I wanted to try. After I fell a few times I suddenly went into a pretty perfect hand stand. Her and I were both shocked and excited that I was able to do this.
What excited me most about the headstand was that I had within me a strength and skill I was completely unaware of. “What other things can I do that I don’t know about?” I thought.
I immediately started thinking about my Lenten commitment and the World Race how it is one of my deepest prayers that God would reveal in me new strengths, talent and passions I didn’t know I had. This is what I am most excited for when I think about the race. I am so excited to spend a year devoted to seeking and serving God and allowing Him to change me in the process.
The thing about God though is that He does’t just work on the mission field. He’s at work now and has been changing my heart and strengthening my soul right here and now.
On Sunday I was getting ready for church and decided I needed to wear my rain boots to make it through the six inches that had fallen the day before. They were in my car a few blocks away so I put on ballet flats over big socks and walked out to my car.
I was tiptoeing and slipping the whole way there (also I looked ridiculous). I had to take every step with care so as not to fall down or soak my whole foot in a huge puddle of slush. Once I reached the car and got the boots my posture immediately changed. I began to walk at a brisk pace down the street carelessly stepping in huge puddles and on mounds of snow. I started thinking about the confidence boots give you to traverse even the most messy and rugged landscapes. I then realized how God’s Word works in our lives like a great pair of rubber boots.
The Bible makes a lot of promises and tells us to be at peace, fear nothing and trust our God with everything and walk confidently in the love of our Creator. I could face life with out His Word just as I managed to make it down the street in my ballet flats. The difference though is the confidence to walk with out worry on the rockiest of roads that comes from a promise of protection and preparedness.
“In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.” – Ephesians 6:16-17
When we study scripture it becomes a part of our hearts slowly and works its way into all aspects of our lives helping us navigate the many avenues and pathways we walk down. When I wear rubber boots in the snow my posture physically changes as it also does when I spend quality time with my Creator. How can you not walk taller knowing you are radically loved by the same being that made every unique snow flake, blade of grass and star in the sky?
When the snow melts and spring comes I will put away my boots and walk the streets on my own. When Spring comes so will Easter and while my boots collect dust in the closet the Word will continue working. His word becomes apart of us in a way that can’t be put in the closet.
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” – Jeremiah 31:33
I pray God continues to use the Word to work in my life and your life revealing strength we never knew we had. So i’m spending this season of Lent unplugged – digging into the Word and learning to do headstands. How do you think God is challenging you to grow this year?
