3 Ways to Get Out of That Slump

This post is by Jenn Kokal.

Do you ever find yourself in a slump?

Perhaps you suddenly realize how messy your house is, how you’re constantly running late, or how you just can’t seem to wake up early enough to read your Bible. It happens to us all. The problem is, we think we can fix our slump by doing a “better” routine that will help us “Get perfectly organized in 30 days,” or “Read the Bible every day without fail.” It doesn’t take us long to discover that these “better” routines don’t work for us either. More often than not, we give up and find ourselves in a slump all over again. Then the cycle continues. This is because the problem is often deeper than lack of routine.

Here are three ways we can get out of a Bible-reading slump:

1. Identify the Deeper Problem

Rather than beating yourself up and saying, “I need to do better,” take a moment to think about why you haven’t been having a quiet-time with God recently. Is it because you don’t have the time? Maybe you don’t have the energy for it? Are your kids, spouse, or work always taking your attention away?

Once you realize the “why,” go deeper with it. Perhaps you haven’t had the energy for quiet-time. Ask yourself, “Why don’t I have energy?” Perhaps you realize, “I am going to bed later than I want.”

Go even deeper!

What made you start going to bed late? You feel you have no free time. You stay up later to get it.

Then ask yourself, “Why do I feel I have no free time?”

Friend, this is where you make the first change. Perhaps you realize you are working too much, wearing too many hats, or prioritizing something unnecessary. You decide to go to bed ten minutes earlier, say “No” to something because you’re over-committed, or eliminate unnecessary things in order to have more time to sleep.Once you implement the first change, you will find you wake up happier, refreshed, and ready to start your Bible reading off to a good start.

2. Prioritize Important Stuff

There’s a quote that says, “The reward is greater than the discomfort.”

Humans have a tendency to avoid hard things. It’s just our nature. We like comfort. We like happiness. We like stability. Unfortunately, we tend to prioritize easy stuff because we think it will bring us the most happiness. It usually does the opposite. We become bored, unhappy, and unfulfilled because we haven’t prioritized the important stuff.

Perhaps you’ve recently had a hard time reading your Bible. Focus on why reading the Bible is important to you. When you realize why it’s important, write it down where you can see it.  

Here’s an example: “Having a morning quiet-time with God is important because it grows me closer to God. I need to grow closer to God because God is the one who guides my steps. He literally gives me my purpose! Without God, I will stray off the right path. I will become unhappy and unfulfilled.”

3. Perfection isn’t necessary, but excellence is!

There is no human on earth who is perfect.

That might be hard to hear, but it’s true. This doesn’t mean we give up! Rather, we focus on excellence, not perfection.

Doing something excellently means doing it to the best of our ability.

Ask yourself, “How can I excellently read my Bible?”

Perhaps instead of trying to have a perfect, hour-long Bible routine every day, you focus on worshiping God with a sincere heart. This could be through a song, a prayer, or just taking five minutes out of a busy routine to say “Hi,” to God. Perhaps you could commit to doing the Three Minute Morning: getting out of bed three minutes earlier, checking your calendar, moving your body, saying a prayer. That’s it!

Friends, God doesn’t want us to have boring, Bible-reading routines that we dread. He wants us to pursue Him as He pursues us! He wants us to enjoy time with Him, make Him a priority, and get back to a relationship with Him. So, no matter what’s holding you back from having a wonderful quiet-time with God, it’s time to make the change. Prioritize your relationship with God – the most important relationship you could ever have! 

Jenn Kokal is the host of the P40 Ministries Podcast - a podcast that goes through the Bible cover-to-cover and brings the listener a simplistic explanation of a Bible passage every morning. The podcast aims to show the relatabilty of the Bible in the modern day. Jenn is also the owner of P40 Ministries LLC, as well as a college and career ministry leader. She is the author of several devotionals that are resources for helping broken people find their purpose in Christ.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash