Day Thirty-Four

What do you do when you feel completely drained of spiritual energy, when you sit down to be with God and feel like even just sitting still in his presence takes more than you have to give? Maybe the worries of today are weighing heavy and don’t seem willing to quiet down, or perhaps it’s the worries for tomorrow. Or maybe it’s both.

We all know what it’s like to “hit a wall” spiritually.

Let me throw out a hypothetical situation for you as an example—suppose you’ve been writing an online daily devotional for a number of weeks, and after a particularly exhausting day you’re finding it difficult to put thoughts together for the next day’s entry. Again…completely hypothetical, right? How would you respond in that situation?

What do you do when you feel you’ve got nothing to give?

The question itself, however, hints at the real problem we often face: when we hit those “brick wall” moments, our inclination is to try our hardest to figure out what to do. In other words…we try to push through it and move beyond it by the force of sheer will. That’s a recipe for disaster. It will compound the exhaustion. It will deepen the pit we feel we’ve fallen into. Like being trapped in quicksand, our efforts to free ourselves will often make us even more stuck.

A few days ago we talked about finding peace by abiding in the one who is our peace. And yesterday we talked about the gift of God’s Word. What if we were to combine those two thoughts for today’s devotion? Could we find in that combination one potential answer to the question “What do we do when we hit a spiritual wall?” I suspect it’s an answer that many of us knew at one time, but have maybe drifted away from over the years:

When we are at our spiritual wit’s end, sometimes we need to just sit and read the Word of God.

I remember when I first came to faith in Christ and bought my first Bible. I couldn’t wait to read it. I didn’t necessarily study it…I just read it. And in reading it, I met with God. But as I grew in my faith, I moved into different ways of reading Scripture—ways that were wonderful and helpful, but in a way distanced me from that intimate fellowship I knew at first.

Our more involved ways of approaching Scripture can sometimes block us from the simple joy of meeting God in the pages of his Word. Don’t get me wrong—I am all for studying the Bible seriously, and I am an advocate for spiritual practices that engage Scripture meditatively and contemplatively.

But as I sit here tonight feeling a bit drained (Surprise! The hypothetical situation was me!), I find my heart wanting to just open a Bible and let the Word of God wash over me. No commentaries, no questions to answer…not even a spiritual practice to try and discern, “What is this passage saying to me?” As wonderful as those can be, sometimes even they can get in the way of simply dwelling in the gift of Scripture and the one who has given it to us.

Sometimes we just need to stop, grab a Bible (and maybe a cup of tea), find a comfortable place to sit…and read.

I’m finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice

Read the rest of the lyrics here.

Time of Reflection

It would be a bit counter-productive to offer reflection questions after speaking about the need to sometimes simply read Scripture. If it’s true that questions and methods of study can, at times, distract us from the simple fellowship with God that comes from spending time in his Word, then let’s embrace a different approach for today.

What I’d like to suggest is that you pick a favorite passage of Scripture. If one doesn’t come to mind, the book of Psalms is always a great place to go for a time of reading. Do what you can to decrease distractions—maybe turn off your phone and close the door to the room you’re in, whatever might help create a quiet and reflective space.

Below you’ll find an embedded piece of instrumental music that has been born out of a prayerful time of fellowship with God. The invitation to you is to listen to the music…and read. Read slowly and with no objective but to “be still and know.”

Let the Word of God “pour down like rain.”