God gave me a passion almost two years ago for memorizing scripture. I’ve been amazed at the level of encouragement it’s been to me. I’ve actually comprehended what intimacy with God looks like on a new level. It’s been life-changing.
But
I hit a dry spell recently. I’m not exactly sure why, but when it came time to pick my verse for August, no verse came to me. I couldn’t settle on one, then I’d forget to look for one, then I’d wonder why God hadn’t just shown me one like He’s done nearly every single month for the past two years. By the time August was coming to an end, I was ashamed of myself for having this hole in my little spiral notebook of memory verses.
I was determined to remedy my problem come September. But on September 1st, I still hadn’t been hit over the head with a verse I felt compelled to memorize. I started getting desperate, searching through my Bible for some nugget that would put me back on track with my commitment.
I repeated this search for five days straight, and as I awoke this morning, I prayed, “God! What am I supposed to do? Why can’t I find a verse?”
His response was simple and humbling as always.
Sometimes relationship with me not about finding the glimmering, awesome, or deep truths I possess.
In that response I started to understand what He wanted me to learn. This relationship with Him is about the long haul, just as my marriage relationship with my husband is. My husband and I have a good, strong marriage, but no matter how committed we are to each other, we still have ups and downs. There are times when we talk about important issues that are going on in our lives, and there are times when we sit in comfortable silence in each others’ presence.
We don’t have to constantly have awe-inspiring things to say to each other to have a great relationship. We do, on the other hand, have to continue to make efforts to communicate with each other and listen to the simple wisdom we have to offer just as much as the sensational words we occasionally utter.
So I set to work this morning, finding a simple truth from God’s Word that I could hide in my heart. It’s often the simple truths that turn out to be the most inspiring after all. I let go of my criteria and just found joy in looking through verses I had underlined in the past. The first one I came across was Proverbs 3:21-22.
“My son, do not lose sight of these – wisdom and discretion, and they will be life to your soul and adornment for you neck.”
Those are the Words that God gave me today in a simple, quiet fashion. I’m more in love with Him now for opening my eyes to a lesson far bigger than what I expected, even after I had neglected relishing His Words for a month. What a picture of a true love relationship!
Want to join me in memorizing scripture? Just leave a comment or send me an email to let me know! I have a Facebook group with several other women who have committed to memorizing a verse per month. It’s pretty awesome to scroll down and read each others’ verses and to just know that we have an encouraging place of accountability. We’d love to have more join us. You obviously don’t have to be perfect to join, as I’ve proven through my confession in this post. We all mess up, but even if you only memorize one verse, you never know how God will use it to work in your life. I hope to see more of you sign on! 🙂
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I love how you confess what it is really like to be in relationship with God here. You’ve opened my own eyes to my journey – because when I feel like things have “dried up” in my Bible study time, I wonder, “What happened?” But you are right – sometimes we just need the quiet in order to hear the simple truths God presents. It doesn’t have to be awe inspiring all the time; it just needs to be real. Great post.