The Wall

How often have you devoted your mind on a goal only to get to a point in that quest where you hit a brick wall?  The wall is so thick that you can't get through it no matter how hard you try.  When we get to this point there seems to be only two choices: we can either give up, or we can reevaluate and adjust in order to keep going.  I will admit, usually my strategy has been to give up.

 

 

You all know that I have been struggling the last couple of months in my reading goal. Today those feelings escalated to that proverbial wall.  I know that I am at a crossroads where I have a choice to make.  I want to just give up.  As I contemplated this today, I was brought back to the words of our lesson Sunday morning.  Our speaker showed us where it appears that both Abraham and Jacob became sidetracked by relatively good goals and forgot to seek the Lord like they should have.  

I realized this morning that this is precisely what I have done.  While reading through the Bible this year is a good goal, there is no command to do so.  However, many times in both the New and Old Testaments, we are commanded to seek Him (2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 119:2; Isaiah 55:6; Jeremiah 29:13; Amos 5:4; Matthew 6:33 and 7:7; Colossians 3:1).  The Psalmist also talks about meditating on His word (Psalms 1:2 and 19:1).  

I have been so caught up in getting my reading done each week in order to post on here that I now acknowledge that I have missed the whole point.  I have not been seeking Him and listening to Him.  Reading shouldn't be an obligation to be checked off of my to-do list.  It should be sustenance and joy.  This morning I was reading from Ezekiel chapters 2 and 3 where the Lord commands Ezekiel to eat the scroll that He will give Him.  The prophet is told that it will feed his stomach and fill his body.  When he did this he found that it was sweet as honey in his mouth.  

I am not giving up on my goal of reading through the Bible and posting my walk on here.  I am giving up on my reading schedule.  I am recommitting to seeking Him and meditating on His word.  I want to be filled with His word and to taste of the sweetness that can be found there.  Some days that may mean I only read a verse.  Other days I might read an entire book.  I want to use my reading to draw closer to Him every day.  I will complete my journey through the Bible, but it may not be by the first of the year.  That is okay. Thanks to all of you for giving me the motivation to go around this wall rather than to give up.  

Please post below how you get past these walls in your own life.  As always, we look forward to hearing about your own reading journeys.

 Jane

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), Copyright(c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.