Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Darcy Fast spoke at a men’s dinner at Evergreen recently, relating his life’s story and emphasising the power of doing the same. It brought to mind a part of my story that I have been meaning to share, and figured this blog is the perfect medium. Keep in mind this will not be my whole life story; something similar to that exists under the “about” tab.
Anyone who has been a Christ follower longer than a month knows what it is to be in a rut in regards to their faith. To feel a kind of apathy or stoicism in regards to God and the people around you. Being raised in the church, I have been a “Christian” since I was in grade school and have found these ruts to be both frequent, and hard to shake. Some of these have lasted me a year or more.
I found myself in one recently that I could not remove myself from, and its primary symptom was an inability to empathize. I couldn’t get myself to care about people, I couldn’t feel the closeness of God at all, and I didn’t want to do the work required to get back to where I was. And if you’ve ever wanted to want something, but couldn’t make yourself want it, you know exactly how frustrating this is. This went on for a while, until one day I was reminded of one of God’s kindest gifts to His people.
I was in a sermon where the speaker was going on about scripture and how it is the written word of God, while Jesus is the incarnate Word, and the Spirit is spoken Word. He spoke about how trustworthy it is, how helpful, and how energizing. I saw this as my hope, and I reinforced my commitment to daily Bible reading, starting in the gospel of John. And, very close to immediately, I came alive again.
The Lord was on my mind all the time. What started as forced reading quickly became something I looked forward to, and very seldom did I stop reading when I was supposed to. I was on fire again, and out of my rut. You could say this story is anecdotal, and may only apply to myself, but I am willing to promise you: if you pursue God in this way, in daily reading of the word, He will honor you and meet you.
It is important to note that I was not bitter at God, or disenchanted with the church, or any thing like that. I believe the root of the rut was laziness first and foremost and, in that context, it follows that curing the laziness would cure the rut. But I do believe it was the power of scripture, and the Spirit through it, that helped me out of it. It has been an exciting season since, and I pray that, if you are struggling in the same way I often do, you find this helpful.