Hi sisters,
It has been about a month since my last post. There are two reasons for this absence: One, life happens; Two, my quiet times have been… well… quiet!
When I walk along side someone who is reading the Bible for the first time, there is usually initial excitement. She sees Scripture popping off the page and enjoys learning something she had not known previous. Then, after a little while, the excitement fades. She wonders if she is doing something wrong or if God is upset with her. It no longer feels organic. Therefore, this is around the time a woman drops her Bible reading.
This phenomenon happens countless times. What we are doing is judging our time with God through the lens of a “honeymoon phase.” The honeymoon phase of a marriage or romantic relationship is full of brain chemicals being released like cortisol. The brain was not created to sustain these levels of chemicals and will eventually level them off. Then, a couple must choose love. It’s similar with God. Our initial time with the Lord may seem exhilarating, but the relationship will change shape as our “emotional high” begins to level. Then we are left with a choice.
I found this quote from a book I read a while back. The author is unpacking our drive for the emotional rush in worship of God. She invites the reader to ponder this question (as if God is asking it): “If you never felt ‘The Feeling’ again, would you keep worshiping me anyway – for me, and not just for the feeling?” She goes on to say that God’s call for us to love Him inside covenant “is not so much about passionate feelings as much as an utter commitment to loyalty toward God.” (~Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus)
That quote comes to mind every time I enter a season when my quiet times are actually quiet. It is when I “feel” this quietness in His Word that God is inviting me to choose love; to choose to walk with Him without “getting something” from Him. Isn’t this what we crave in relationship too? Someone who loves us for us, who isn’t hanging out with us because they “get something” from us? I believe God invites us into this relationship with Him as well. He is asking us, “Do you want to spend time with Me for Me?”
Then, I think of the parable in Matthew 13:44:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.“
This reminds me that the treasure of the kingdom is sometimes hidden. It requires me to search, seek, knock, and ask. It takes work to dig for treasure and the Bible is compared to treasure (e.g., Psalm 12:6; 19:10). Therefore, persevering through the “quiet” seasons is necessary to find the depth of what God has to reveal in His Word.
Maybe you can relate? Maybe you have tried to read the Bible but stopped because you assumed you were doing something wrong? Or because you entered a season of “quietness?” I encourage you (as I am saying this to myself) to persevere. Get back in the Scriptures and try it again. Continue to walk with God to be with Him. Wait on Him. From experience, I am always able to look back and KNOW He was there the whole time because I find His whispers in the pages of my quiet time journal.
Therefore, we can have confidence in saying, “But as for me, it is good to be near God” (Psalm 73:28a).
By the River Together 