Double tap, and keep scrolling

 

Did you stay with anything long enough for it to really sink in?

As we navigate our way through the busy seasons of our lives, our ability to really ‘stay’ with something is slowly waning. I know, personally, that I can be guilty of brushing right by things that I need to take more notice of.

Do you ever find yourself reading a Bible verse, having a brief thought of, “that’s interesting” and then moving on to the next thing?

Are you guilty of scrolling through your feed, looking at the pretty photos instead of reading the verse that is attached to it? Or the words written beneath it?

And maybe it’s not because you don’t care, but it’s what you’ve become conditioned to. It’s the way the world seems to work now.

We scroll. We casually read. Maybe we ‘like’. Maybe we even ‘save’, and then, we keep on scrolling.

Our attention spans have become so short that we’re always chasing the next dopamine hit. The next reel. The next post. The next story. And so, scroll, scroll, scroll we go.

What bothers me is we are beginning to treat the Word of God the very same way.

We read our few verses for the day, shut our Bibles and never stay with anything long enough for it to really sink in. We don’t sit with it. We don’t stay with it long enough for it to begin to change us.

Now, I’m not dissing Bible reading plans or short devotionals, I think they have their place. But I know that if I get the mindset that it’s just another thing to check off my list, I can find myself skimming over the words and not really meditating on their meanings and the application they may have in my life.

Did you know that the Bible was never meant to be disposable?

I’d like to bring to your attention a couple of Hebrew words that might change the way you see things.

The first word is Darash. This word means to seek. It means to actually go looking for something. To diligently inquire after something. To investigate. To search for.

We see it used over and over in the Old Testament. One of the more well-known places is found in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 4:29 KJV - But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

We see it in the Psalms.

Psalm 34:4 KJV - I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

And again in Proverbs.

Proverbs 8:17 KJV - I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

And in Isaiah.

Isaiah 55:6 KJV - Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

And there are many more. Needless to say, we are commanded and encouraged to be always seeking the Lord. Diligently searching for him. Enquiring of him. Actively looking to him for guidance. For comfort. For strength. For help.

We are to seek him. And to look for the treasures in his Word. Not just casually notice as we go scrolling by.

The second word is Hagah. This word means to sit with the words. To repeat them. To ponder them. To meditate on them. To turn them over in your mind, even while saying them quietly to yourself.

Once you have sought the Lord, through prayer and reading of his Word, then you need to sit with it. Not scroll…stay.

Here are a few examples.

Joshua 1:8 KJV - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Psalm 1:2 KJV - But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psalm 63:6 KJV - When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

I love that one of the meanings of this word is ‘mutter’. As in, mumble under your breath. Letting the words roll off your tongue quietly, in thought.

What are we actually doing when we double tap on a verse or a thought and move on?

The Bible wasn’t written to be pressed into the small space of a reel or feed.

It was written to interrupt your life. It was written to transform you. To help you to understand the character of God better so that you see yourself clearly and realise your need for transformation and alignment with God’s will and image bearing of a righteous, holy God whose character we are to emulate.

Now, please hear me when I say that I am not against Bible content online. I’m literally using social media to publish what I’m writing right now.

But what I want to warn against is the casualness with which we often treat the Word of God as we scroll on by what we may need to sit with for a while.

I love that we can use the internet to get the message of good news out, but if all we’re doing is creating access then we are just sending out mini dopamine hits that are not working any change in lives and hearts.

So, in saying all this, what are we to do then?

I think one of the questions we need to be asking ourselves is this. Not “did I read something today?” but “did I stay with anything long enough for it to work a change in me?”. “Did I firstly, seek the Lord today and did I meditate on what he brought to my attention, or did I just scroll on by?”

How does this play out practically?

Can I encourage you to do something? When you read through something, a verse, a thought, a quote, and something stands out, STOP.

Turn to the passage in your Bible. Read the surrounding verses. Read more than just the verse. If you’re unsure of what a word means, then look it up. If you don’t understand, don’t move on. Go looking.

This is darash and hagah. Seeking and meditating. It is sitting with God’s Word and studying it. Every day. Throughout the day.

It doesn’t always have to be an hour-long study, but simply looking into the context of the verse or the meaning of a word will help you gain more clarity and cause growth in your Christian walk.

Let’s not become lazy in our reading of God’s Word. Let’s not treat it casually and only use it for nice, feel-good quotes to go with our photos. Let’s become diligent in searching out the Scripture more fully, applying ourselves to the study of the Word.

The next time you are tempted to scroll right on by that verse on the screen in front of you, STOP, and take some time to sit with it. Let it work in you. Meditate on it. Think on it throughout the day. And most of all, let it change you.

Remember, it’s not about how many times you’ve been through the Bible, or how many verses you’ve casually read as you’ve scrolled through your day, it’s about how many times the Bible has been through you!

How much of God’s Word have you stayed with? How much of it have you sat uncomfortably with and prayerfully pondered? How much of the Bible has worked to transform you?

Matthew 6:33

 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;

 and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sermon I needed to hear today.....

(from the archives) 

Sometimes I find myself in need of a sermon. Preached by me. Directly aimed at me. For my correction and rebuke and instruction. This was the case today. And when I found this old post, I knew it was meant for me. For today. 

But maybe, there is someone out there who needs it as well. So here it is.

Finding Joy in Your Story

 

Sitting here at my desk today, with the only sounds being the whir of the air conditioner and the occasional barking of a dog, I listened to a podcast, taking notes as I went. I flicked through old articles and read through devotionals in my inbox that I hadn’t had a chance to read, jumping from one thing to the next, not really able to focus on anything.

Picking up my phone, I began to scroll through my photos, and I came across a quote I had saved that seemed to jump right off the page at me, for want of a better term.

“Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you are actually living.”

What a challenge!

Some days, life is just plain hard. Days roll into weeks and weeks roll into months and we feel like the roller coaster we’re on will never end, the struggles will never cease, and in the process, we lose our joy.

Sometimes in life, circumstances happen that throw our plans into disarray. We hit a bump in the road that sends us off the course we had planned. Unexpected things happen and before we know it, we wake up one day, realizing that this is not the life we planned and not the life we wanted.

We had a totally different picture in mind.

And suddenly, our joy is gone. Our happiness has been stolen away and we are left feeling discontent, disgruntled, joyless, and downright miserable.

The picture of what we thought life would look like is vastly different than the reality.

We only have one life to live and although it may not be the life we had planned and although there are twists and turns in the road that are unexpected, and with each new season, a new challenge arises, we have to choose to love the life we’ve been given and make the most of the God-given opportunities he brings across our path.

Loving life is a choice, and it should never be determined by your circumstances. The life you’re living today is the life God has given you, for this particular season, and the reason you’ve lost your joy is because of your attitude. You’ve chosen to hang on to your picture of what life should look like, instead of finding joy in the life you’ve been given.

Your peace, your joy, and your contentment depend on the choices you make.

I want to remind you that although you can’t choose the life circumstances you go through, you can choose HOW you go through them.

Are you struggling with the circumstances you find yourself in at this particular point in time? Are you fighting against the God-given difficulties in your life and feeling like you’ve reached the end of your patience level?

I feel like I’m not the only one in this season at present. Maybe I’m a little more vocal about it and I harp on it more than others, but I know I’m not the only one that has found myself in circumstances beyond my control, fidgeting and hopping from one foot to the other, battling the desire to take things into my own hands and fix it even though I have no idea how I would do it.

One of my favourite authors once said:

“Usually, the only aspect we can change about our circumstances is our outlook. So, we must adjust our attitudes, alter our actions, and put on a cloak of contentment in order to weather life’s circumstantial storms” Karen Ehman

We have to consciously make a choice to take off the cloak of discontentment and misery, and grab the garment of contentment, (being satisfied to the point that we are no longer disturbed or disquieted in our souls), wrap it around us and choose joy, knowing that God is in control, and that he will do what is best, and despite the storm raging around us, he will bring the peace that we need. 

I could very well be preaching to the choir here, as the saying goes, but I know that this particular choir member needs this reminder today, and if I need it, then I’m sure someone else does too!

So how do we learn to find joy in the story we’re living right now? In this season. At this time in history. With the people we are surrounded with. In the house we live in. With the job we have.

How do we find joy? We have to let go.

We have to let go of the picture we have painted in our minds, lay down the brush, tip out the murky water jar, wipe the paint smudges off our faces and hands, and submissively, and humbly, give our concerns to God.

It’s not an easy task, deciding to find joy in your current story.

It’s hard to look around and not feel discontentment rising inside. It’s hard to let go of all the ideas you had and the plans you had made and choose to find joy and happiness in what you’ve been given and how God has chosen to write the script of your life.

I confess that one of my biggest problems is fear. Fear of the future. Fear of the unknown. Fear of failure. And believing the lie that God is not in control and needs help with the planning.

I have begun to realise over the past couple of weeks, that my days will be miserable unless I choose to change my attitude and how I see the new picture that God has painted.

I have to choose joy. I have to diligently spend my days, looking for the little blessings God sends, looking for the roses amongst the thorns.

I can’t control everything. I don’t know what the future holds and my plans are fraught with mistakes and mess ups. Only God can organize them perfectly.

Why am I not spending every minute of my day finding joy in my new story? God’s story. God’s plans.

God has our best interests at heart. He loves us with an everlasting love. He knows our deepest longings, he hears our cries, he knows the dreams and desires of our hearts and he longs for us to live a joyful, victorious life.

But joy doesn’t come automatically. It requires some effort on our part. We have to make a choice.

So, how do we do this? How do we go from fear to faith and find the joy we have lost?

Now, speaking from experience, I am no expert at this. I am continually learning and failing and learning the lesson again. God is longsuffering with me of which I am very thankful.

I am constantly reminding myself that I have to do what I can and leave God the rest. I have to learn not to stress about all I can’t do and the things beyond my control.

God is big enough to handle it.

It really is pointless to waste all my energies and brainpower on the things I can’t change. I need to drop it and move on, seeking the Lord as I go.

I know that if my husband was reading this, he’d be saying, “that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you all along!” Praise God my darling husband has a steadying effect on me, and it never ceases to amaze me that he has the ability to have freedom over worry and fear. He doesn’t let stress cripple him. I would do well to learn by his example, letting go of fear and chasing joy and contentment.

I’m a work in progress. As we all are.

If I can encourage you today, to let go of your idea of what life should look like and embrace joyfully, the life God has chosen to give you today, you will find that your days, although they are often long and hard, will be more restful as you stop struggling and fighting against what God is doing, and submit to his will, going with his flow, not trying to swim against it.

He really is in control. He really is a good Father. He really does love you. He really does want you to rekindle the joy you once had and take pleasure in the blessings he sends.

John 10:10b

 I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.