This guest post comes from DWITW Team Member, Sami Hudgins. Sami shares encouragement for those of us stuck in the cycle of striving and achieving. She asks us to ponder what are longing for apart from Christ, whether those longings have eternal value, and how Jesus fulfills all our longings like nothing else can.

Step after step, the sweat drips down my arms and falls onto the revolving machine.  The stair climber is torturous, but I find some reward in pushing through the pain.  After my time is up, I push “stop” and look up at the mirror wall.  In that moment, I ask, “Where have you gone?” My mind immediately kicks into gear: “...Well, I burned some extra calories and perhaps earned myself an extra ounce of endurance…” But the Lord stops me there before I can go on. Again: “Where have you gone?” This time, my heart screams, “Nowhere. I have gone nowhere. I have accumulated hours on this machine, taken thousands of steps, and still, I have gone nowhere."

We do this so often in life: we strive to reach our next big goal; we work to achieve the next standard.  We exert all of our energy to climb these mountains. We work for days, weeks, or even years, only to find ourselves stuck in the very place we began.  This is the image that God gave me so clearly: I was stuck at the bottom of a mountain, exhausted.  I had given all that I had left in me with no reward or victory.  The energy I gave was wasted. The time I spent was unused.  And, really, I had nothing to show for it.

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“Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

— Psalm 61:1-2

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With this sitting heavy on my heart, he whispered ever-so-gently into my ear, “Take my hand, I will lead you higher. Follow me to places you could never imagine. Don’t come back here to climb anymore.”

Do you find yourself climbing? Trying to move up the ladder at work? Trying to accomplish your next fitness goal?  Trying to earn enough money to move up in status? Trying to be affirmed in your group of friends?  Trying to win the ‘mom of the year’ award in your neighborhood? Serving to exhaustion so others will see you as a top-notch member of your church? The list is endless. The world gives us an infinite catalogue of titles, achievements, and goals to strive for. 

It is the work of the Lord that gives us everlasting joy. 

We can work all of our lives for the fleeting feeling of success. We may even have some papers that assert our “job well done” hanging on our walls or accomplishments worth writing home about. But do awards, a bigger bank account, a better body, or a fuller schedule fulfill your soul? I can assure you that the delight of these things will last only a short while.  It is the work of the Lord that gives us everlasting joy. The heart of the true believer desires nothing more than to see Him glorified. So, as it says in 1 Corinthians, may we do all for the glory of God!

It is His work alone that will lead us to victory, for His victory is already won!

Ponder this: where is your time spent? Where does your faith lie? Is it in the to-do list or the calorie-count? In the job title or the social status? No! Our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who will lift us up to the top of the mountain by His divine power. It is His work alone that will lead us to victory, for His victory is already won!

He doesn’t promise that the climb with Him will be easy.  We will endure suffering along the way. But take comfort in knowing that our suffering is shared with Christ.  He has already climbed these mountains, and promises to be by our side the whole way.

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“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

— 1 Peter 2:21 (ESV)

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We must not return to the stair-stepper machines that hold us in place by means of exhaustion.  Of course, this is not a call to quit exercising specifically. This is a call to listen to the Lord earnestly about His will for your time.  What is he asking you to courageously walk away from? Allow him to lead you on His path, up to the summit with Him, where you can declare His glory.

Lord lead us higher so that we may shout your name from the top of the mountain to all of the Earth!

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Samantha "Sami" Hudgins serves as the Event Coordinator for Dayton Women in the Word. She is an Air Force wife and fur-baby-mama to Charlie. Her heart longs for women to join together to seek and find truth in God's Word. 

Our blog post today comes from DWITW Team Member Daisy Dronen. Daisy shares with us how the Lord used this Thanksgiving season to train her in gratefulness and heal some painful wounds. Daisy challenges us to extend our practice of gratefulness from November into December and to welcome Jesus with thankful hearts, no matter what the season.

Reflecting on our past experiences can be painful, hard, and sometimes unpredictable. This thanksgiving season, I found that this practice is more essential than we think. Normally, when I find myself reflecting on my past, I feel all the feelings again. I feel the rejection, the hurt, and the feelings of inadequacy that come rushing back. Sometimes, I just pause and neglect to examine the feelings instead of inviting the Lord into them with me. This Thanksgiving, my time of reflection brought along all of those feelings, but I found that there was something else waiting to be examined with them- my gratefulness. 

In the book of James, we find a challenge to count our trials pure joy. This verse has been on repeat in my head recently, and I am so glad. It has led me to reflect on my past experiences through different-colored lenses. We all have life experiences, encounters and interactions that give color and flavor to our present. We have come out stronger on the other side of our trials, yet sometimes, we hold these past experiences tightly and carry shame heavily because of them. This is where I found myself, tight-fisted with my past and heavy laden with shame.

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”

— James 1:2-4

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I was so overwhelmed by the emotions that I could not see the good that had come with them. I was constantly rehashing what was done to me, how hurt I was by it, and how much I missed out on. Thankfully, this time, as I invited the Lord in, He gently reminded me that I had been ignoring gratefulness. I realized I had some personal work to do.

I had been looking at my experiences as troubles that had happened to me and because of them I had been robbed of experiences that should rightfully be mine. But then, He reminded me: "...You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:3-4. So, I prayed out loud, "Lord forgive me and I forgive them." Then, I put action to my prayers and to my discoveries. I wrote a letter of gratitude and mailed it. I thanked my parents for all that they have invested in me, I thanked them for walking humbly with their God (because now I could do the same), and I thanked them for inspiring in me a love for the Word of God that now sustains me. I tell you now with tears in my eyes how liberating this was. I could leave the past behind and truly appreciate the people that loved me then and love me now. I see the fruit of those experiences now; how they produced perseverance, preparing me for life now so that I could in fact be complete in Him.

As we continue into this season of celebrating with family, let's cultivate a grateful heart so that our encounters with our family will leave a heavenly impression; a gentle one, seasoned with salt. I would like to challenge myself and you to not put down the practice of thanksgiving now that November is over, but instead continue to cultivate a grateful heart in December, too. Do this with expectation and anticipation because our King is good and gives us only good gifts. "Let us enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise-...because He is good and His Love endures forever." So let's open our hands and invite Him in to the deep and hard parts of our hearts, no matter what the season.

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"In gratefulness come to Him with open hands, so that our past
experiences can become beacons of light and hope."

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Daisy Dronen leads IF:Dayton and is a member of the leadership team for Dayton Women In the Word. Gathering women around her table to seek God and creating real community makes her heart beat wildly, because she believes that we know Jesus more intimately when we know each other well.

God is the same. He never changes. It says so in Scripture.

As we've been interviewing women on the Dayton Women in the Word Podcast, I've noticed a couple of trends in the topics that we've discussed. Yes, Jesus Christ is the same. Yes, His Word is living and abiding (1 Peter 1:23). But I think it is worth our while, and most healthy, to allow some trends in the way we interact with His Word to fade.

1. "Quiet Time"

Growing up, the term my parents used for our daily time with Christ was called "quiet time." In my mind, that looked like a cup of coffee at 6 AM with no one around but you and God. Don't get me wrong, I would love the gift of real, nil-decibel-level quiet. The problem enters when my life ceases to be quiet and I think I can no longer meet with the Lord. God gave you the life you have now. He wants to meet you where you are at, however noisy. Mom with screaming kids, that includes you! Single gal with hovering roommates, that is you! Quiet can be a heart posture as well as a noise level. It can happen at any time of the day, in any way. Remember, it is about who we are meeting with; not the place, time, or life decibels. Don't let the details of the perceived perfect "quiet time" keep you from Jesus. 

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"Finding greater pleasure in God will not result from pursuing more experiences of him, 
but from knowing him better"

- Jen Wilkin

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2. Anesthetizing Scripture

Raise your hand if you have ever given or received a baby shower gift wrapped in a bag with cutesie Noah's Ark graphics. Is this not the story where God, in his rightful judgment, wipes out the earth except for eight people? 

It starts out when we are little. This past year, I served as a pre-school teacher in our church. I never realized my propensity to want to "dumb down" Scripture before being challenged to teach on the transfiguration my first day on the job. I heard myself saying, "Can you say transfiguration?" It was difficult to say the word, but it wasn't difficult to teach the real truth: God revealed himself fully to these men, and his holiness blew them away. As I walked through Revelation with Bible Study Fellowship last year, I was amazed to watch my gal pal's four-year-old daughter soak in and understand concepts about God's glorious judgment in a way I never did until I was an adult.

When we grow up, sometimes we do the same thing to ourselves. When we numb God's Word, we limit God. We don't allow the full impact of His Word on our hearts because we don't trust Him to lead us through that hard stuff. We need to lean in, because we need to understand God in his fullness. When we put a band-aid on Scripture, we think we covering up a boo-boo. In reality, we cover up pure beauty.

He didn't leave us alone to grasp these parts of Scripture. He gave us helpers: the Holy Spirit and one another. Let's ask for help, and examine what makes us so uncomfortable about God's real truth, together. Let's not put band-aids over things that God wants us and the world to see about Him. We will never understand unless we allow ourselves to look in the first place. So yes, open up Leviticus, ask for help, and ask for God to reveal himself: his entire, beautiful, holy self.

3. Shying away from the Old Testament

Once you realize that God's Word is not just about making you feel better, you can also realize that the Bible is actually a book about God. It's a book about God from beginning to end; Genesis to Revelation. We need the God of Judges just like we need God of 1,2,3 John. His character remains the same throughout, so we need not categorize him "pre" and "post" Jesus' appearance on earth. Dive in deep to every book, sisters. You can't understand the power of the veil being torn (Matthew 27:51) unless you understand why the veil was there in the first place (Exodus 26:31-35).*

4. Pristine Bibles

Because God's Word is living, active, and abiding, studying is best as an interactive process. God created you to interact with his Word, to do life with it, to be active with it, to abide with it. No longer do we leave our leather, gilded-edge book of Scripture up on the top of our living room bookshelf. We open it, journal in it, color it, sticker it, spill coffee on it. We paint the words on canvas and display them in our households. We open apps for our kids that let them touch the characters in the Bible and ask questions. We use apps where we can see what other Christ followers are studying simultaneous to our personal study. We listen to the Bible while we wash the dishes and walk our dogs and drive to work. We leave our hard copy out on the kitchen counter. We print out the Word and mark it up with notes, circles, brackets, highlights, and questions. We read it out loud to our kids. Yes, we are reverent about it's words and treat them as holy, but we don't have to treat the vehicle of the words as such. We know they are much safer implanted in our real hearts, in our real every day moments, than in a place far away from our realities. The Bible touches every aspect of our life. 

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He didn't leave us alone to grasp these parts of Scripture. He gave us helpers.

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5. Going it alone.

One way to treat Scripture as being alive is to share it with others. God himself is a community of three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We were created in community with Him and He pointed out that it wasn't right for man to be alone. At the very core of our being, we need each other. Studying the Bible is no different. We need each other to be able to do it in the first place. We need each other to understand it. We need each other to ask for help, to teach one another, to speak it, to listen to it. We need moms and dads to pass it to their kids. We need brothers and sisters to text it throughout the day. We need to talk about it over coffee and dinner and carpool and the subway. No longer is our Bible study a private, concealed interaction with God that starts and ends in fifteen minutes of our days. It infiltrates everything, including our relationships. That is why we gather as Dayton Women in the Word: to remind each other that we are never truly going this alone. Welcome to the sisterhood. 

*Looking for a place to start in the Old Testament? Check out our study resources for the books of Joshua and Daniel. For an overview of the whole bible, try the Seamless study by Angie Smith.

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Jillian Vincent has been a lover of Jesus for twenty years. She's a wife, mother of two and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap times writing and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers.  Her favorite verse is Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

“There is a season ( a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven”

— Ecclesiastes 3:1 (AMP)

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As the years pass and the seasons come and go, there might be a tendency to overlook them and go on about our lives. A deeper look shows us that our lives mirror that same pattern; they also ebb and flow in seasons. For the believer, the Holy Spirit walks with us in and out of those seasons. I don't know what it is about fall that sets my heart ablaze with thoughts and longings for more of what the Lord has for me. Have you ever felt this way? 

Sharing in this time of my life what the Holy Spirit is stirring and moving in me feels very different than anything I have ever shared. I get hung up on the scripture that says, "do not grow weary of doing good..." and "run so that you may obtain the prize." The Holy Spirit's still small voice, though, whispers, "be still." 

Don't get me wrong: I am not just sitting around waiting for a sign. "To surrender," "to let go" and "to become weak" are all action phrases. What? I know, I wanted to panic at this moment too, but alas: I want more of Him. So, just like John said, "He must become greater, I must become less."

There have been three ways in which I have experienced Him drawing me and holding my heart close as I obey. Hear my heart as I share these: your walk with the Lord will be unique and beautiful and I am still a work in progress. These are treasures I am pondering in my heart until the day I see the end result of his refinement in me.

Letting go sometimes means letting go of good things. I want to always hold what He gives me with open hands. This year, in BSF, we are studying the book of John. Already, in the first few chapters, the Lord is gently guiding and setting my heart on course. I quoted from the 3rd chapter earlier and in verse 27 where John says, "A person can receive only what is given them from heaven." Wow, I want this confidence. I don't want to do all-the-things for fear of being left out. I want to do only what the Holy Spirit has given me to do. I want Him more than I want to be and do all the things, He is the true gift from God.  All I Want, a song by Red Rocks Worship, has become the sound track of my letting go; bringing truth and hope to a season that sometimes excites but sometimes is downright painful.

Be still does not mean your life stands still. I have experienced His sweet peace in a more pronounced way in the middle of a busy season. As I began to set things down, to surrender to Him, and listen to his still small voice, I imagined my life would stand still and then I would know the next step. I couldn't have been more wrong. In the middle of the busy, He quieted my soul. It was a gift that overwhelmed my heart was leading me to trust Him for my peace and not my circumstances. The beautiful way He has done this leaves me speechless. I have seen some of His most beautiful work in other women's lives as I have faithfully completed the work He has given me to do. I work in His rest; not from my own strength.

He is at work in the waiting. I wait in the Lord; although, not always patiently. Even still, He shows me kindness and cares for my soul. I believe one of His greatest works in the waiting is the caring of our soul. We see the waiting sometimes as a "dry season" that seems to drag on forever, but the desert has a way of revealing our sin and our true need for our Savior. As He invites me to be still, I realize He is doing a deeper work. It is not that I have faltered, or that I am being benched, it is that He is longing to reshape me and bring me back to life. His love for me is so extravagant that He does not leave me where I am, but instead, invites me into His rest to transform me. He sets me free to be the woman He created me to be. 

I invite you today take time to reflect on your life. A heart check is so appropriate in this season; I call it "The Great Letting Go." Fall gives way to the stillness and darkness of winter, but in that waiting, He works. And soon, growth pushes through and life begins anew.

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“ Thou has made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.”

— Augustine

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Daisy Dronen leads IF:Dayton and is a member of the leadership team for Dayton Women In the Word. Gathering women around her table to seek God and creating real community makes her heart beat wildly, because she believes that we know Jesus more intimately when we know each other well.

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We welcome our friend and sister, Steph Duff, to the DWITW blog today! Enjoy the beautiful story of how God gave her a passion for global orphan care by giving her a passion first for HIM.

India will inundate your senses. Purple becomes the most plush and succulent shade of plum. The clatter of a new language being spoken, urgent and loud, becomes musical in its fevered pitch. Spice reaches new measurements of heat as curry is mixed with rice by hand. You cannot move, glance, or taste in India without an imprint planting itself in your heart.

And that will likely all occur before you sit in the soil next to soft, brown eyes asking to know about your life in America, quietly calling you ‘sister,’ and clicking their tongue between their teeth to answer no.

India took the orphan crisis from two words used to label an injustice in this world to an injustice I would begin to feel viscerally, weep over openly, and ultimately be called into as a voice on behalf of those without one.

Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. –Habakkuk 1:5

Long before India became a seed in my heart, before I felt called to step into full-time ministry, I highlighted those words above in my worn, brown Bible and didn’t really look back on them.

Months later, as snow blanketed my city in hushed whispers of white, my blood began to pulse for a country I knew little about and possessed an accumulation of fears for. I felt, with a certainty I’d never known before, a nudge from the Lord to board a plane, travel to an unknown land, and wait on His next move.

As friends and loved ones graciously supported my trip to India, I was given a card with those familiar words from Habakkuk written down and I felt a calm move over me. As I lugged that beloved Bible across oceans and through time zones, I came back to those highlighted words and began to understand 'the work I would not believe' may very well be a shift within my own wandering heart.

I spent nine days in Hyderabad, India in June of 2015. I went as an act of obedience, nearly unwillingly, and with an ever growing chip on my shoulder. I returned with fading henna on my hand, a journal full of every last detail I could muster from the rooms of my memory, and a deeply-shaking soul desire to return, and as soon as I could.

Because that’s what God does, isn’t it? He calls us into the unknowns, gently nudges us into possible fears; He is ever plucking the corners of a heart’s comfort zone and stretching it – an hour south, around the corner, into entirely different time zones. He whispers, ‘come,’ and if we know what’s good for us, sisters, we take a shaky breath, admit we’re terrified, and follow Him into the dark. And He leads us to a place we couldn’t have dreamed up if we tried.

He writes loves letters to our worn, tattered, yearning, wandering hearts in the form of a 14-year-old boy and spicy, potato curry. Or in motherhood. Maybe behind a camera or traveling to that one land you’ve always wished for. He writes letters, is continually penning love into our stories in ways unimaginable. And then He flips the lid off the box we tried to put our lives in and knocks out the walls, for good measure.

When the Lord invites us into something frightening or unclear, we need to trust our lack of answers won’t alter the ending. India was an answer to prayer I never knew I needed to be praying. It was a bold and clear calling over a heart that was far flightier than I ever wanted to admit.

I spent nine days in Hyderabad, India in June of 2015. I went as an act of obedience, nearly unwillingly, and with an ever growing chip on my shoulder. And I returned with a calling; a burning passion from the center of my heart.

Stories matter. The lives of the children served in India, and around the world, hold Kingdom weight. They will shape the Kingdom. And now I have the privilege of sharing some of those narratives. When the Lord asks us to say yes, sisters, let us be a generation of women that follow fervently after the One who crafted what it is our hearts beat for to begin with.

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Steph Duff wants to live in a world where every voiceless child is given articulation and Jesus is the name on every lip. When she's not sharing Kingdom-shaking stories with Back2Back Ministries, you can find her drinking copious amounts of caffeine, curling up with her nose in a book, laughing loudly, continuing an on-going attachment to semi-colons, planning her next trip to India, and making snail mail cool, again. Her favorite scripture is "Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." Habakkuk 1:5 ESV. Learn a little bit about what makes her blood stir and the yearnings of her heart at www.girlslifeinink.blogspot.com.

You've just sat down to your coffee and your Bible. You flip open the pages and realize you don't know where to turn. Maybe this is the first time you've decided to study the Bible systematically. Or maybe you've just come out of some hard-core studying. You've closed up that book with new highlights and notes etched every which way in your Bible, just as God has etched his words every which way upon your heart. You've hugged the ladies goodbye in your study group and you are still smiling at how they challenged you, learned with you, and taught you. But maybe, like me, you find yourself a little comatose amidst the warm fuzzies. What now?

Here are some pointers about what to do next.

1. Wait for the Lord in prayer. It can be tempting to jump into the next study available without asking the Lord to direct you first. Without His guidance and presence, our efforts are meaningless. First, ask God what He has in mind for you in this specific season of your life. Personally, I have two groups of gal pals going on to two different organized Bible studies, one through James and the other through John. James is my FAVORITE book of the Bible. John is my FAVORITE gospel. Yet, when I stopped to ask God if either of these directions were for me, God was clearly saying no. Not these books. Not this season. Why? I've just recently studied both of these books with my church, and we are going to welcome another baby into our home very soon. So I am prayerfully waiting on the Lord to reveal the specifics of what Bible study is going to look like in the months ahead, and leaning into the discomfort of not having a designated plan just yet. You see, I don't have to, because I know the ultimate Planner, and I trust He has a plan for me.

2. Keep Reading. God wants to commune with you, all the time, through His Word. When we aren't in a designated Bible study, sometimes our accountability is lower, so we don't spend time with God in His Word. We may toy with thoughts such as, "If I'm not really studying, then what is the point of reading at all?" Perhaps this mentality fuels some of the cautious urgency some ladies feel to jump from one study to the next or feel like they ALWAYS need a plan. Certainly, Satan wants to attack you in these vulnerable cracks. He wants your mind off God, dwelling on anything but His Word. The truth is we need to read and study, as both uplift us in different ways. For more help understanding the importance of BOTH Bible reading and Bible study, Natalie uncovers this topic here.

So what do you read when you are in between studies? Here are a few suggestions. 

• Read books chronologically surrounding the book that you just finished studying. If you just finished Daniel with our Dayton Women in the Word study, start with Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Lamentations.

• Consider the cross references in your last study. Was there anything you wished you had more time to uncover? Go read through the books from those references.

• Psalms and Proverbs are also lovely choices, as they are full of wisdom, praise, and reflection focused upon the Lord. 

3. Ask some guiding questions. What books or areas of the Bible am I unfamiliar with? Am I lacking understanding about any point of God's story? What is my husband studying? My church? My kids? Would it be beneficial for me to study deeper alongside them at this time? What Bible studies are available in my area?* Do they line up with my season of life? If I can't study in person, what resources are available to me online?** Do I feel God's call to lead a Bible study or go through a study within the context of a discipleship relationship? If so, what might the women I'm leading need to focus on in the Bible right now? The answers to these questions should begin to clarify direction for your studies.

4. Talk to your people. Think about the few close people in your life who can provide Godly counsel on where to spend your time in the Word this season. For me, I check in with my husband, my mentor, and 2-3 close sister-friends. By this point in the process, I share with them where I think God is leading me and why. I invite them to pray with me and keep me accountable to what I commit to study with the Lord. And sometimes, I invite them to study alongside me! 

5. Move forward in faith. The first step is indeed to wait, but don't wait too long. We have every confidence that God has given us all we need to make good decisions, because he has given us "Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3, ESV). Be brave and start your new journey into his Word! God has so much to share with you.

*Bible Study Fellowship classes are available around the world! If you're local to Dayton, there are two women's classes in our area that run during the school year. Visit their website to find out more and consider going to a welcome session!

**There are so many wonderful bible study resources available online. A few of our favorites are She Reads Truth, First 5, Flower Mound Women's Bible Study, and The Bible Project reading plan and videos.

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Jillian Vincent is a member of the Dayton Women in the Word leadership team. She is a lover of Jesus, a wife and a mom. She loves teaching, reading,  and discipling women. 

The kitchen was warm in the heat of the summer but the smell was intoxicating. A sweet aroma of berry and fresh, homemade pastry wafted to greet me with the heat. Natalie was baking homemade pie, but she was apologizing about it. "It's not like your pie. I just do the easy, quick, fold-over crust." 

I assured her that even the most famous chefs bring things down to basics at times. They just call their new creation "deconstructed" to keep it fancy pants. Natalie was making homemade, deconstructed, summer harvest berry pies, and they looked (and tasted!) every bit as delicious as the old-fashioned, fluted classic.

Ladies, sometimes, we need to deconstruct our Bible study. Like the pie crust, it doesn't really matter to me so much how that pie gets in my belly. What I really want is the pie. I will take it in a house. I will take it with a mouse. JUST GIVE ME THAT PIE! Many times, we get too focused on the 'what' and the 'how' of Bible study and forget the 'why.' I LOVE Bible study tools. I LOVE equipping women to study the Bible. But you know what I need to love more? Maybe you expect me to say, "The Bible itself!" here or sing the "B-I-B-L-E" Sunday school song. But really, I love Jesus. I need to love him more than the ways or people that bring me closer to Him. 

The Bible is God's Word: the best way we can get to know Him. When we study it, we are spending time with him and learning what He loves and what He doesn't. This year, I have learned how I can make even better use of my time in His Word and understand it better. Dayton Women in the Word's mission in part is to share study tools with you, but the ultimate goal is getting you to the thing itself, which is really a who: Jesus. At our first city-wide gathering, our girl Natalie put it best by saying, "our thing is not THE thing." Ladies, our thing, the Bible, is not the thing. The thing has always been and forever will be Jesus Christ, our Savior.

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“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

— Matthew 28:19-20, English Standard Version

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At our church, we use a tool for discipleship called "Quad." Essentially, it is a group of four-ish people meeting regularly to encourage and challenge one another's growth in Christ. In my own life, I've seen Jesus use quads to catalyze men and women in their faith. I've also seen quads where "life-dumping" is the focus, where arguments about who is in quad and when quad happens and the content of quad cloud THE THING. My friend always jokes, "Jesus didn't say 'Go, therefore and make QUADS.'" What did he say? He said, "Go, therefore, and make disciples." Satan uses our tools against us, sometimes, yes? 

By all means, outline your Bible chapter. Compare translations. Look up cross references. Memorize. Paraphrase. Study commentaries. Go to conferences and workshops and gatherings. Learn how to study the Bible well. But sometimes, deconstruct. When you begin to notice your heart is focused on checking off 'the steps,' get back to the heart of Bible study. Get back to Jesus. Ask him to refresh your love for Him. Praise Him for caring enough about you to give you His Word. Invite Him back into your study. Walk back into His kitchen, hungry and thirsty for His Word, because you are hungry and thirsty for Him. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the (wo)man who takes refuge in him!" (Psalm 34:8)

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Jillian Vincent is a member of the Dayton Women in the Word leadership team. She is a lover of Jesus, a wife and a mom. She loves teaching, reading, and discipling women. (And for the record, she makes phenomenal pies.)

Hi, friends! If you're here because you are already familiar with DWITW, then you'll know that our heart beat is encouraging women to grow in their love and knowledge of God through His Word. Right now, we're a few sessions into our summer study on the book of Daniel. Find resources to follow along with our study here.

I want to take this opportunity to share some of my thoughts on approaching the Bible. I believe it is the Holy Spirit, not a particular study method, who changes us as we read, and that there is not a one-size-fits-all formula for approaching the Word. I do, however, believe there are some general guidelines reflected in Scripture that inform the way we read it. 

Approaching the Bible Prayerfully

I believe the most essential part of our time in the Word is our prayers. Why? Because without prayer, our reading and study is simply an academic pursuit. When we remove prayer, we are removing the Holy, active, Spirit of God -the one who does all the sanctifying, heart-changing, mind-sharpening work- from the equation. We're functionally saying that we can understand all the words without Him. We are quite mistaken if we believe that we can grow in wisdom or see lasting change in our lives without calling on the Lord! Proverbs 3:6 tells us to acknowledge Him in all our ways- that certainly includes our time in the Word.

Now, hear me on this- I am not saying that if you accidentally forget to pray during a bible reading session that you've got to do it all over again or that it was a waste of time- of course not! I am as guilty as anyone of not praying as I should. The Lord sees our imperfections, knows our deepest motivations, and loves us still! He is aware when we are opening the Word in humility and when we are relying on ourselves instead of Him. Let us not feel condemnation (Romans 8:1) in our prayer lives, but freedom to repent and start again. A regular habit of prayer before, during and after our time in the Word has great transforming power.

So, how do we pray? We speak honestly with God about the condition of our hearts. Before we read, we ask God to open our eyes and ears. We ask Him to reveal Himself. We ask him to prepare us. We confess when we are tired or apathetic or we don't want to open the pages. We ask Him to change us by His Spirit.

While we read, we ask Him questions. We tell Him when we need help. We thank Him for His promises. We ask what is to be learned and how we can apply it to our lives. We wonder with Him about how all the small stories fit into the Big Story. We ask Him to show us Jesus in the text. We pray the holy words of Scripture back to the Holy One who wrote them.

After we read, we thank Him for his perfect character, for his grand plan of redemption, for saving wayward sinners, for giving us the gift of His Word. We thank Him for anything and everything. We ask Him to help us use and apply and share what we've learned. We praise Him for wisdom gained, for especially touching insights, for loving us so well. We tell Him we can't wait to meet him face-to-face.

Of course, these are only a starting point. I personally love praying the words of Scripture back to God. Where my words fail, His never do.

Why We Need Bible Study AND Bible Reading

What's the difference between these terms, anyway? Bible reading is what it sounds like: reading the Bible simply, a few pages or chapters or a book at a time, as you are led. Bible study refers to bible reading alongside other resources. This includes reading from a study bible, using footnotes and cross references and consulting commentaries or other inductive study tools. 

As a student and teacher of the Word, I have found that I need both of these approaches to the Bible in my life. Bible study, with all its resources, can help give us historical context, ground us in the larger story of God's redemption, reveal connections to other parts of the Bible, and answer questions we didn't know we had. There's greater opportunity to explore nuances and themes. But we can easily become lost in the many details and tools and voices of deeper study and miss out on the voice of God Himself.

Bible reading is where I find my wonder, awe and adoration of God grows most fully. When I take in Scripture this way, often reading a whole book in one sitting, I learn things that I miss when I am studying a few verses or chapters at a time. I see God's glory and experience His presence in a way that can get lost during times of deeper study. 

Now, hear me again- I don't want you to leave this post thinking you have to add more things to your spiritual to do list. I want to encourage you that there is freedom in the ways we approach the Bible! Bible study is wonderful, but we don't have to study that way all the time. Bible reading is beautiful, be we can depart from it at times to go deeper. I believe these two approaches go hand-in-hand, and we can freely embrace both of them as balm for our weary souls.

One warning I would give is not to elevate study over reading, or reading over study. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. We see both study (Ezra 7:9-11, Ecclesiastes 12:9) and reading (typically aloud and in community, as seen in Nehemiah 8:8,9:3; or personally as with kings in Deuteronomy 17:18-20) modeled for us in Scripture. Whatever the method, we know without a doubt that we are called to love God's Word (Psalm 119).

What This Looks Like In My Life

Maybe you're wondering how this plays out practically. When I am actively teaching through a particular text, I lean fully into bible study and all its tools. I have a voracious appetite for all things relating to the book I'm teaching and I can't get enough! But even during these times, I desire less intense moments of refreshment, where I simply read the Word and let its truths wash over me and renew my spirit.

When I am not teaching, I typically do more simple bible reading, in longer sections. I may read a particular book a few times in a row, and then pursue lighter study on it if I have questions. If we are being led through a specific book of the Bible in our corporate church gatherings, I will usually spend extra time in that book as well. 

When I am in a season that presents challenges to my bible reading (times of transition or grief; new babies, etc), I do my best to extend myself grace. I find creative ways to stay in the Word like listening to an audio bible, having someone read Scripture over me, calling memorized passages to mind, leaving my bible open on the table, or reading it one-handed on an app on my phone.

Our lives are constantly moving from season to season; some offering us more time in the Word, some offering less. I urge you not to feel defeated if many days have gone by since you last opened the Book. The Lord has gone before us in all our seasons and He will make a way for us to commune with Him. He can grow in us a passion for His Word that pushes us past the obstacles and helps us open those sacred pages, even on the hardest of days.

A Few Closing Thoughts

Oh, sisters. There is such freedom for us in our bible reading! For the hungry mind, there are endless study resources. For the weary soul, there is comfort knowing we can simply read and be changed. We can find strength, peace, joy and hope whenever we open the pages. And as our sweet friend Jillian is known to say, "Don't do it alone." The Word is meant to be heard and discussed and cherished in a community setting. If you're struggling in this area, ask God to show you someone in your life to come alongside you. And if you're in the Dayton, OH area, you have a ready and willing community of sisters in DWITW.

The Lord is with you. There is freedom. Enjoy the precious gift of God's living Word!

For More On This Topic (some foundational, some practical):

Reading the Bible vs. Studying the Bible: What's the Difference?

7 Arrows For Bible Reading

Three Tips for Better Bible Reading (includes a helpful infographic)

Let's Be Honest: Reasons Why We Don't Read Our Bible

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Natalie Herr is the founder and team leader of Dayton Women in the Word. She is a servant of God, a wife, and a mom of three. She loves teaching and equipping women with God's Word.

All photos were taken by Mindy Braun. [The Brauns Photography]