On Spiritual Regrowth and New Year's Resolutions
January 6, 2020 · 323 words · 2 minute read
In this post, I give some advice for anyone who has had wonderful times of study and communion with God in the past, but is feeling a bit dry right now. Sometimes life limits the amount of time we can spend studying and meditating on Scripture; how should we respond? In this post, I encourage you to do something! Anything!
A new year begins and my life is busier than ever before. I now have less time to study Scripture and have more responsibilities outside of the realm of scriptural and theological studies. I used to be able to study Scripture and wrestle with theological questions for hours and hours, but now have half the time, at best, that I used to have. When I studied for long hours, I enjoyed learning about God from His word and felt closer to God, even though my studies raised a number of profound theological and philosophical questions. With less time to study, however, and with many theological questions still present (many of which I simply do not have the time to answer even though I feel I must answer them somehow), I sometimes feel spiritually dry and distant from God, overwhelmed by all of the weighty questions I have. Sometimes, I find myself thinking “Well, I used to study scripture for hours and hours and that produced a lot of questions, so there’s probably no point in studying now that I don’t have as much time”. So how should I (and perhaps you) respond to this kind of thinking?
Right away, I don’t think I should give up studying and wrestling with these questions simply because I don’t have as much time anymore. A little study and prayer is better than nothing. My advice to myself and, perhaps, you is this: do something! Do something to grow in your knowledge of and love for God. Do anything, no matter how small. Get in the habit of praying, if only for a few minutes every day. Get in the habit of reading even a small portion of God’s word. Just build a habit, no matter how small it may be! A tiny cottage is considered cozy on a cold winter night and a small shack is better shelter than nothing.
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