Three Practical Ways to Stay Close to God’s Word

Three Practical Ways to Stay Close to God’s Word

My jewelry is all tangled up. The other day I was looking for a pair of earrings to match an outfit. I had exactly 30 seconds to get it and head to the car. We were already late. My kids scrambled out the door and I huffed in exhaustion because when I looked at the little tray with all of my earrings on it, I couldn’t find even one pair that matched. It was a tangled mess. I decided to just leave and deal with it later. 

Did I organize it later? 

No. It is still a tangled mess. When I look at that tray of jewelry I realize that is how my life feels right now. There are so many pieces and they are all wonderful and beautiful, but they seem to be thrown together and they don’t look pretty at all. It looks, well, like a mess. I feel like I’m just surviving.  One simple day at a time. I don’t like this feeling. 

I recently told someone that I don’t just like to look like my ducks are in a row….I feel like they should be in a row. But I don’t want to plan my life so its organized – I want my life to reflect an organized life. At the end of each day, I want to feel at peace. I want to feel like I accomplished something. 

Only sometimes seasons come when life is just a tangled mess and we are just trying to keep our heads above water. Ever feel that way? Like you are drowning and nobody even notices. At those times I get frustrated. I don’t have time to feel like I’m drowning! I can’t feel panic or restless or weary, I don’t have time to feel anything. So I keep paddling and treading water, only to feel my heart move further and further away from God. 

Where is God in those moments? 

Right where He’s always been. Underneath us, holding it all together. In those moments I need to remember that it isn’t up to me to fix my life. In fact, my life doesn’t need fixing at all. My life, my people, my work, and my heart are all held by God. Those times when I feel like I’m drowning are an illusion. I’m not drowning. God’s got me! 

How do I know this? I stay as close to God’s Word as I can. This means I read His word, yes. But there is a point in my life where I need to just do more than read God’s Word. More than just study God’s word. I need to meditate on it. I need to have it a part of my language, my heart, and so close that all I can think about are truths from His word. How do I do this? 

I am imperfect, but here are three ways I stay close to God’s Word throughout my day. 

1. I’m memorizing scripture. In fact, my husband and I are spending these fall months memorizing Philippians 2. The whole chapter. Before reading Glenna’s book I would have never dreamed of memorizing a whole chapter of the Bible. Yet. Here we are. I think we’ve both mastered verses 1-9. It is slow work, but it keeps me close to God’s word. 
2. I listen to music. I can do this more now that my kids are in school. While they are home the house is loud! But while they are at school, if I’m just folding clothes 
3. I have a go-to passage. I read almost every morning. Right now our church ladies are studying James, but I like to still read in the Psalms. So I always read a psalm or two in addition to whatever I’m reading right now. 

How do you stay close to God’s word? Let me know in the comments! 

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