I must admit that I have been having the spiritual blahs lately. I feel a bit ashamed admitting it. I just can't get into it lately. I know God is real and that I am His child, but I just don't seem to be getting anywhere. I trudged my way through Colossians this summer and now I'm trying to figure out what to do next. My mind wanders while I pray or when I read scripture. Worse yet, I feel no joy in it. It's like so much work. I am thankful for the above verse. I know he won't give up on me!
Do you ever get the spiritual blahs? If so, what do you do about it?
13 comments:
I could come up with many sayings or accronyms that are supposed to help but the answer is in you and for the entire time I have known you has shined brightly upon you and your family. Think of the Footprints...when you look back at your path what footprints do you see?
Adam
Yes I am not sleeping.
Priscilla - I am completely on your wavelength on this one. I have been feeling the same over the past few weeks. Until this week - when I started reading my Bible again, and have just started praying properly again.
It's hard work when you're out of routine though, isn't it. I find it hardest when the boys are on holidays from school - because the day is unstructured. Do you think that may be some of what has happened??
I read a few Psalms a day...and am hoping to build up to reading a NT book as well. I have never read straight through Isaiah, so am planning to. AB wrote his thesis on that book, a few years ago now, so a bit embarrassing I haven't actually read from beginning to end!!
When you read through a book of the Bible, how do you go about it?? Do you read through it with a commentary on hand, or a study booklet, like 'Search the Sciptures'?? (not sure if you know that one, I think it's international!)... Am interested in your ideas.
Yes, I think all Christians go through the "spiritual blahs" at some point. Sometimes I find it helpful to read a good book like Max Lucado's "Just Like Jesus", in addition to my daily devotions.
I think that this is the first school year that I have ever felt a little anxious to have the kids go back to school, and I feel a little guilty for feeling that way. My patience frequently wears thin with one of my kids who seems negative all the time, and particularly stressed about returning to school soon. I feel like I react to things he says and does in my own way, rather than letting God use me in His way, and that not only makes me feel far from God, but I feel distanced from my son too. I often wish I could hit the rewind button and redo some things.
Adam, I thought of the "Footprints"
poem too.
Priscilla, we all go through dry times as we learn to "walk by faith and not by sight". Keep hanging on, the rain will fall again. :)
Rachel, don't get discouraged, just keep keep praying.
Adam, good to hear from you. Thanks for the encouragement. Try and get some sleep!
Ruth, yes I definitely think the unstructured summer season has a lot to do with it. I am in a highly structured and deep Bible study all year (Community Bible Study). That ends for summer. It starts back up in mid-September. Looking forward to it.
Rach, I am looking forward to school starting too. Allen is too actually. (He admitted it to me yesterday)
Mart, Thanks.
I have been in a "dry spell" for a long time too. I think I'm kind of perpetually dry with intermittent rains. :o) I am constantly looking for some kind of devotional book that would be Scripture focussed, structured to help me stay on task and insightful - to help me think about the verses in more depth. I have read through the One Year Bible twice now and it just becomes too rote after a while. I start reading just to read and finish the task, rather than really thinking, learning, applying.
I find the most helpful thing to me for getting inspired to study the Word is interaction with other people. We have a women's Bible study that stopped for the summer and will resume in Sept. We are reading a book called A House for My Name which is a survey of the OT. The conversations with all of you about different verses have really been great for me too.
Rachel, I really like books too, but i do find that I wind up reading the book instead of reading the Bible a lot of times. Unless I have a question about the validity of what the author is saying. Then I look up the verse s/he's referring to and study it for myself.
Great ideas, everybody. Thanks for being trasparent, Priscilla. You've obviously inspired us to be transparent as wel. :o)
By the way, Ruth...I am familiar with Search the Scriptures. I've dug that out too this summer.
Thank you, Tracy. Bible Studies really helps. There is probably a Community Bible Study chapter near you. They do! Check it out here!
Scroll down on the link and then click on Oregon!
It's ok to have the blahs. I've often wondered why we think that it's bad, rather than normal. I suppose the best thing to do is just keep going on, knowing that it's ok if you don't feel "spiritually vital" or whatever ... sometimes the best test of your faith are these times when you don't know why you should care, but still trudge forward anyway.
I'd encourage you to ask why you think you're feeling spiritually "blah" ... is it something personal (you don't feel you pray enough, read enough scripture, whatever)? Is it something communal (your church, your relationships or lack thereof with fellow christians or non-christians; I know the last one I went through was because I DIDN'T have any non-Christian friends and felt guilty). I guess what I'm saying is that, in the same breath I say it's normal to feel blah, it's also usually got a cause.
Sorry, don't mean to be patronizing or anything, just thought I'd add my two cents.
I used to attend a very similar program called Bible Study Fellowships. Do you think it is the same thing? Did they change names?
I did enjoy it. BSF was planned out so that over the course of maybe 7 years you had studied all the books of the Bible or something like that?
I'm quite sure that BSF and CBS are two separate things. CBS has been around for years. It was started about 30 years ago in Maryland. I've been attending CBS for about 14 years now and I know it existed before that.
CBS even has chapters in other parts of the world. I checked to see if there were any in Australia...but didn't see any, which really surprised me. They had one in New Zealand.
Chris,
Yeah...I think it probably is caused by something. A combination of things. The change of schedule into summer kind of threw my regular quiet times out the window. And probably sin on my part. I don't prioritize well.
Thanks for the encouragent though by telling me it's normal...which of course I knew already. Just need to be reminded from time to time. Hey...we never hear from Liz. How's she doing in the land "down under"?
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