The Day That Changed My Life Because Nothing Happened That Day

Years ago a friend challenged me to spend an entire day alone with God. Nothing but me and my Bible and maybe a journal and a devotional book or hymnbook. You get the picture, very low-key, very unplugged. I took a day off work and went to a local reserve where I could walk and pray and sit at the picnic table and read and pray and spend the entire day alone with God.

That day changed my life. But not in the way I expected.

I expected dramatic changes. After all, wouldn’t spending hours alone with God revolutionize my life? Surely it would!

What I discovered at the end of that day was that I was pretty much the same man I was at the beginning of the day. I carried the same burdens, I struggled with the same sins and anxieties. Whatever dramatic spiritual revolution I was expecting didn’t come about.

But I said that day changed my life, and it did.
 
That day didn’t live up to my expectations of sudden transformation, yet I knew that over the years God had wrought changes in my life. I knew that God had been changing me, but He had changed me slowly, over time.

That’s the day I realized that the way God changes us isn’t usually through dramatic experiences but through the rhythm of holy habits, things we do every day, every week, the liturgy of the routine. I gained a new appreciation for the vital role that rhythms and routines have always played in my spiritual formation. Prayer and Bible reading every day, worshiping with the body of Christ every week. That day I gained a new appreciation for the ordinary.

Trevin Wax’s article “Routine Bible Reading Can Change Your Life” looks at just this difficulty. He urges us not to mount unreasonable expectations on ourselves but to commit ourselves to the daily habit of reading our Bibles. Not because the thunderbolt will strike every day, but to feed ourselves, to eat.

You may ask yourself: Why should I read the Bible even if I don’t “get anything out of it”? Why should I sit in church and listen to a sermon if I don’t “get anything out of it”? After all, how many sermons or Bible-readings have been truly memorable and life-changing?

But this line of questions reduces our spiritual growth to the level of a consumer experience; if it doesn’t thrill, it’s not worth the effort. I don’t ask why I should continue to eat even though so few dinners have been memorable. I continue to wash my hands and brush my teeth even though these are not dramatic experiences. If I have established healthy daily rhythms that support my physical well-being, it certainly makes sense that I would commit myself to daily routines that will support my spiritual well-being.

Committing myself to spiritual routines is not dramatic, but it is essential.

If you haven’t established a daily routine of setting aside a few minutes to talk to God, start now. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or complicated; this is your Father we’re talking about, and He’s glad to spend time with you. Listen to Him in His Word and speak to Him about what’s on your mind.

Start from where you are.

If you’ve started that habit, don’t give up, even if you feel you’re going through a dry spell. After all, it’s not about you and your experiences. The time you set aside to be with God is an act of worship, an act of sacrifice. It’s for Him.

And if you’ve come to the place where you look forward to your time with God, think about sharing your delight and your method with someone else. Show someone else what you do when you spend time with God.

In a future post, I’ll talk about five ways to engage with Scripture: reading, studying, memorizing, copying, and listening. I’ll share with you the method that has worked for me.

Persevere,
Paul Pyle
Pastor of Discipleship