Cook Your Way Through the Bible (and 10 other ways to battle Bible fatigue)

Fatigue.

We’re encountering it on multiple levels as this pandemic drags on.

Compounding that, the Bible took a beating during the election. It’s easy to grow weary as people sword fight with God’s Word. And that weariness is the turnstile to wondering if anyone can really understand what it says.

That turnstile puts you on a fast train to doubt and Bible fatigue but one thing I know is true – we don’t have to ride every wrong train all the way to the station.

God’s Word led to me Christ from my childhood.

Growing up invisible does a number on a person’s soul. Invisible to parents focused on their own troubles. Invisible at school when my test scores caused a dilemma. From first to sixth grade, I was taught separately from the rest of my classmates. This meant hours alone, invisible, doing “independent study.”

I read so prolifically; the administration allowed me to bring my Bible. There, I met the God who sees. Within those pages, I found the pathway to friendship with God and I learned my true worth.

Yet there have been times I’ve experienced Bible fatigue, my spiritual senses dulled by grief, stress, boredom, ennui, trauma, confusion, illness, or simply habit. I’ve plowed more spiritual ruts than a favorite farm mule.

Some days I’ve shaken my Bible trying to liberate comfort or new insight – like someone banging a stubborn vending machine or pounding on the slots. Not exactly the image of a devoted disciple – but this is truth.

Through the years, God, has taught me that what He and I have is a real relationship. The tides come in, the tides recede. There is a season for new growth, a season for sharing, a season for comfort, and a season when truth may lie dormant beneath the frozen soil, but spring always returns. And there are things we can do to reignite our excitement about God’s Word.

Are you suffering from Bible fatigue? Are your readings stale? Do you wonder why others panning in the same river walk away with nuggets of gold while you stare at pyrite? Has weariness caused you to set God’s Word aside with a sense that somehow, you’re not special enough to meet Him in those pages?

Escape the lies. Abandon the train at this stop. God adores you.

He’s given you everything you need for life and godliness. You are human and humans grow weary, dull, and rut-worn at times, that’s all. God doesn’t reject your humanity. He loves you. He designed you.

Pray always. Ask God for renewal, direction, and revival. Confess any sin and seek the power to change. But also, try one or more of these 10 ideas for battling Bible fatigue:

• Read a different translation. Ask your pastor or mature Christian friend to recommend a different reliable translation than you’re accustomed to reading. Or, try a paraphrase – not for intense study, but just to refresh your thinking on certain passages.
• Read aloud. When we read aloud, we engage different parts of our brain and can hear familiar passages in new ways. Here are two articles about the benefits of reading aloud. Little Known Truths about Reading Aloud ,Reading Aloud Boosts Memory

• Listen to the Bible. In the same fashion, having an audio version of the Bible can stimulate new perspective, fresh thinking – plus, you can listen as you walk in the park, woods, or treadmill. 8 Mental and Physical Benefits of Audiobooks 
• Read God’s Word with a child or with an unsaved friend. Tell your unsaved neighbor you need some support in your faith and ask if they would read the Bible with you once or twice and share their perspective. Or schedule to read aloud with a child/teen in your world and ask them their thoughts on the passages. This can help you see it in new ways and expand your relationship.
• Read thematically – choose a word like righteousness or thanksgiving, even a word like bread, water, or plow, and use a concordance to direct you to all the passages on that word/theme. You may even find that matching your current mental state may help you feel more at home in Scripture again so search for all the passages on sorrow/lament/grief, or weariness, anger, fear, doubt. If you feel bored and trapped, read the books that Paul wrote from prison, the story of Joseph, Jonah, or Esther. If you feel persecuted and set aside, there are plenty of options there, too!
• Live the Bible. Choose one verse each day and see how many ways you can live or express the truth of that verse through the day. Keep a journal about your experience.
• Read or study with others. Invite others to read or study a book of the Bible with you. Zoom is a wonderful way to stay connected through COVID, but you can just do the same study and chat over the phone, too.
• Interact with a passage of Scripture through your favorite art – read it and then respond by writing a poem, composing a piece of music, carving designs into a walking stick, creating a quilt square, or choreographing a dance. To enhance this, listen to great music, look at great art, or read great literature inspired by Scripture to reignite your own Christ-focused imagination. 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know: The Fascinating Stories behind Great Works of Art, Literature, Music, and Film.
• Cook your way through God’s Word. Read all the passages on food and create meals inspired by the foods mentioned in scripture (I see a lot of olives and figs in your future.) Eating the Bible: Over 50 Delicious Recipes to Feed Your Body and Nourish Your Soul
• Map the Bible. Pull out your atlas, your globe, or Google maps and begin to research the locations in the Bible. Learn all you can about the culture, climate, and politics of each area. What are their modern-day counterparts? Look at scripture from a geographical perspective. Location, location, location.
• Read an entire book in as few sittings as possible. Choose a gospel or maybe Esther or Nehemiah and read it all in great gulps rather than small daily sips. Read all the passages about one Bible person such as Peter or Noah, Sarah or Mary. Reading the Bible in great swaths can be a marvelously eye-opening experience.

What do you do to battle Bible fatigue? Please share your ideas below.

Cook your way through the Bible and 10 other ways to battle Bible fatigue https://t.co/v5irD8vXvC #fatigue #Bible #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) November 24, 2020

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