The past decade has been a journey of learning how to increase my time and desire in the Bible.
It’s almost impossible to start off a new year without reflecting on the past. Kicking off 2020 was a big one as folks started recalling not just their past year, but their entire decade! All those Instagram posts I saw prompted me to think about my last ten years. While there were many significant life moments, what struck me was the realization that the past decade has been a journey of learning how to increase my time and desire in the Bible.
For me, a barrier of getting into the Word was quite simply because I didn’t know HOW.
I know I can’t be the only one that would start every January 1 with the goal to read my Bible more. Yet no matter what kind of resolution or goal I made, the year would end with me not feeling like I had grown. For me, a barrier of getting into the Word was quite simply because I didn’t know HOW. Every time I opened up my Bible I felt like I was searching for clues for a hidden message God had for me. Unless I was in a Bible Study with clear fill-in-the-blanks to guide me through the passage I was reading, I really struggled with reading anything on my own.
About five years ago I read Jen Wilkin’s Women of the Word book. And after that I found other women hungry for change. We were tired of sharing, “I should read my Bible more,” without making the changes to do it. We wanted to know God and build that relationship with Him. It was around this time that Dayton Women in the Word also started. God wasn’t just stirring this in my heart; He was stirring it in women all across the Dayton region! Slowly but surely, things began to shift in how I read my Bible.
I began praying for a desire to open my Bible. I prayed God would open my eyes to what He has to say in His Word. I’m excited to say that I can see how God answered these prayers slowly but surely. I have actually started to read my Bible regularly and fall in love with the Word. I can see growth in my relationship with God and knowledge of the Word. Don’t get me wrong. This has taken time and I still have room for improvement (we always do!), but God has truly been faithful in answering my prayers.
If we are steadfast in asking the Lord for help and drawing near to Him, He will help us understand His Word!
So what did I find as I began my journey of opening my Bible more? I learned that the Bible wasn’t about me. I wasn’t finding the “clues” for what God was trying to tell me because it wasn’t about me at all. We don’t need anything special to make the Bible come alive. It already is alive, as it says in Hebrews 4:12. If we are steadfast in asking the Lord for help and drawing near to Him, He will help us understand His Word! This made me excited for the revelations He had for me.
Next, if you’ve been in a DWITW Summer Study, or been around our blog or social media long enough, you have surely come across the tools we suggest when reading your Bible. These were the tools I found that gave me that ability to be able to truly study the Bible all myself. (Even *gasp* Old Testament books.) It really can feel like a foreign language, but it doesn’t have to if you have some ways to help you get started… like simply looking up the historical context or using your dictionary to help.
Now, as I start 2020, my prayer is that my hunger for the Word continues to grow for the next ten years and I overcome the new barriers that get in the way. As much as I want to open up the Bible, there’s the typical challenges that come with being a full time mom. And yes, I still am guilty of sometimes binge watching Netflix more than opening my Bible. The good news is that God wants to come alongside us and help us mature in our time in Scripture. He knows our struggles and has given us the Holy Spirit to help. Not only that, He has provided me accountability within studies like Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), DWITW summer studies, and great friendships to allow me to keep me diving deeper in seasons when it can be harder.
Are there barriers that keep you from getting into the Word? We’ve found there’s a lot of things that can keep us from reading the Bible. In our upcoming podcast season, we’ll be digging deeper into what keeps us from opening up our Bibles. We invite you to join us this season as we pray for trust that God is greater than our barriers. He wants to bring us closer to Him through His Word. My last decade is a testament to this.
Jen Ward is the Written Content Contributor for DWITW. Jen wants to live in a world where chocolate croissants grow on trees, all babies automatically sleep through the night, and every woman feels empowered to study Scripture on her own. Connect with Jen via Instagram @JenieAnn.