Find the Strength You Need and the Joy and Peace You Desire

We attend a liturgical, Scripture-based church weekly where I hear the Word read and preached on. For years I reasoned that would have to be enough: personal Bible study just wasn’t happening. 

Day after day, I convinced myself I couldn’t fit it in. Surely God would understand. A busy mama of 4 all under the age of 8, one with special needs; who would fault me for being sporadic in dedicated Bible study?

Perhaps no one. But by skipping a daily filling of God’s Word, I was missing a critical resource for handling my day. And I didn’t even realize it.

But Martin Luther knew the power of Scripture:

“The soul can do without everything except the word of God, without which none at all of its wants are provided for.” ― Martin Luther, On Christian Liberty

Starving Soul

For perceived lack of time, I was starving my soul. What I needed most to get me through my days, I was intentionally ignoring. 

For perceived lack of time, I was starving my soul and intentionally ignoring what I needed most to get me through. Share on X

The Apostle Paul also wrote of the power of the Word: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)

He knew being immersed in Scripture would be necessary to withstand the persecution and suffering of a Christ-centered ministry. It’s the same for you and me. 

Each of our callings—whether parenting, preaching, or providing a needed service or product to our community—is God ordained and Christ centered. Yet how many of us regularly welcome His instructions and encouragement in these ministries? 

I was desperate for guidance on how to be a Godly wife and mother, yet I failed to learn from the very One who established the institute of marriage and created parenthood. Hearing Scripture read once a week was not enough to fill my need for strength and wisdom and discernment and guidance. I needed to dwell on such truth throughout my week. 

After many years of nominal Bible reading, my preteen son inspired me to make time in the Word a necessary part of every day. Through Danny’s example, the Holy Spirit convicted me to fill my heart and mind with Him regularly and often. 

That was many years ago, and I can’t imagine trying to handle the messiness of life without being bolstered by God’s words of comfort and truth. 

Fill Up with Scripture

There are three principles that may help you develop and maintain a daily time in Scripture. 

1. Schedule a regular time every day to be in the Word. I set aside 15-30 minutes within the first hour of the day. If I don’t, daily demands nearly always kill later “good intentions.” Trust me on this; schedule the time or it won’t happen!
2. Find/create a distraction-free zone for Scripture reading. Since my dedicated Bible-reading time is early in the morning, this is not as crucial for me because the house is quiet. However, I still find my mind more focused when I’m settled outside on my deck swing or on a corner of my living room sofa. 
3. Bring a journal, a pen, and a pencil. Frequently, I find myself underlining Scripture verses, making notes in the margins of my Bible, and/or filling journal pages with insights I’ve received about a passage. Months and years later, these journals become priceless treasures. 

Incorporate your version of theses three principles and begin your daily Bible-study time today. Don’t skip a day, even if you can only graze on a verse at a time. It’s food for your starving soul. 

The joy you receive and the power and peace you experience by taking in Scripture daily will transform your heart and mind and brighten every corner of your day. It will fill you with exactly what you need.

The joy, power and peace you experience by taking in Scripture daily will transform your heart and mind. Share on X

God promises. 

“My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do. You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:11-12 HCSB

So get in the Word so the wisdom, power, peace, and joy of the Lord can get into you and change you from the inside out. 

Get in the Word so the wisdom, power, peace, and joy of the Lord can get into you and change you from the inside out. Share on X

Reflections: How has having daily Bible reading time affected your life? or What prevents you from being in the Word daily? What other principles would you suggest? 

Closing in on 4 years of counting and I’ve surpassed 4,000 gifts in Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare! What a blessing! Here are numbers #4,080–4,100. Read my entire list by clicking here.