Being a new wife, I have found that my newlywed days are filled with new situations and many learning opportunities. This life change has also prompted a very real and somewhat perplexing question about my personal devotional time with God. How do I balance my own study time with joint time spent in the Word with my husband? When I was single, I read my Bible, had my quiet time and enjoyed a lot of solitude with God. But what should happen when life changes?
While I wasn’t sure how or if my quiet times needed to be altered, I prayerfully considered some of the truths I already knew. I had previously experienced the vast blessings that come from studying the Word and praying alongside other believers. I knew that God built us for community and that we were never meant to live the Christian life in total solitude. Studying God’s Word with a spouse or friend is a valuable tool God has given us. I just love how Proverbs 27:17 explains this truth, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” What an amazing blessing to be in relationship with other believers who are willing to share their own God stories and lessons learned.
I have also found that that the reality of ‘iron sharpening iron’ is one of God’s greatest gifts in marriage. When I cannot see my heart as it is, my husband can gently sharpen me with the Word and with his understanding of God’s heart. I love the image presented in Proverbs 27:17 because I know that alone, iron does not sharpen itself, but when put with another piece, it can become a sharp, useful tool for God. God’s goal for our lives is that we would be useful tools in His kingdom. Surely one of the ways He prepares us is through this one-on-one fellowship with others.
Much like I had experienced the blessing of studying God’s Word with others, I also knew a thing or two about alone time with God. When we spend uninterrupted time with God alone, we are free to express ourselves in unique ways. I love how God tells Jeremiah in Jeremiah 33:3 to ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you.” The word call literally means to cry out with a loud voice. God’s desire is that we approach Him with vigorous lips, not mere whispers. When we are alone we are more apt to let our reservations fall away leading us to cry out, fall down, and bury our heads before our God, showing a deeper respect to Him as the Sovereign One.
In Matthew 6:6 we read, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” The Pharisees at this time were being rebuked for their desire to be “seen” as holy. While that may not be something you struggle with, this verse still lays out a valuable way to spend time with God: alone. It is in the quiet of my room, far from the voices of others that God has spoken the loudest to me. If you do not have a place of quiet retreat, I urge you to make a place available. It can become your meeting place with the Creator of the Universe.
In the big picture, each one of us is responsible for our walk with God. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly handling the word of truth." Scripture is calling us to study the Word to show ourselves approved unto God. The Greek word for approved is dokimos. This word is used to describe how metals have gone through the test of fire in order to become pure. This word is also used to describe someone whose faith is being tried. The process of dokimos is something each person much experience for him/herself. Our spouse or friends cannot maintain our relationship with God for us.
The beauty of God’s Word is that it is complete. While searching out answers to my questions about time in the Word, it became clear that balance is the key. Both aspects of Bible study are vastly important to God. However, I realized that while studying and praying with a spouse or friend reaps a multitude of blessings and pleases God immensely, nothing is more important than making our own time with God the number one goal of our day.
One of the most exciting realities in all of Scripture is that we have a God that longs to be intimate with us. He asks us to come to Him when we are weary saying in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” His heart for our relationship with Him is intimacy. When we spend quality one-on-one time with a close friend or spouse, our relationship deepens. It is the same way with God. As we spend quiet time completely alone with him, our relationship with God and with others will grow deeper and deeper.
No comments:
Post a Comment