Changing Plans & giving grace

 

Changing Plans & giving grace 

A Behold Peace Bible Challenge | Update | April 2024 

So here comes the day. A day to decide what to do. This is really humbling. It hurts my pride. I want to do the right thing. I want to do what God wants me to do and do what He tells me to. I want to be obedient to God and His word and what He says. 

I know I bit off more than I could chew. I need to take my family’s advice and give myself grace. Grace to slow down. Grace to stop. I love reading more of God’s word! But this much of reading is too much at the moment for my eyes and body to handle. 

This is really hard for me to do. I know it’s right for me to scale back. I’d still love to read 10-20+ chapters a day but not make it a rule. When I make it a rule for myself then I get so frustrated and stressed and anxious when I don’t hit it (all those emotions are not of the Lord and are none that I want to invite into my life). 

When I read the Bible and spend time with God I expect in me to see the fruits of the spirit. To be more like Jesus. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

—Galatians 5:22-23

Another post on the fruits of the spirit: https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-thought-ii-fruits-of-spirit.html

But in this challenge I’ve gotten so wrapped up in just finishing the challenge and speed reading that I’m not actually focusing on having a relationship with God and keeping Him first above this challenge. I’ve gotten distracted. As such, I’m not spending good quality time with Him. Because I’m not, it affects my attitude and outlook on things negatively. Which is cool and kinda funny. It’s cool that when I’m not spending good quality time with God that I can feel it in my mood and if I have peace or not. It’s funny because I’m doing a challenge to read more of the Bible but I got so distracted by hitting a daily checklist I wasn’t actually prioritizing Him and my relationship with Him. It’s funny the things that can distract us from God, even good things can be a distraction. It’s a good thing to remember! 

This is a big learning experience for me. I’m praying God uses this for good! 

You have no idea how stressful this is to write. How stressful it is to say to you (and myself) that I can’t do this right now. One day I really want to do and complete this challenge! I love this idea and I think it’s amazing and will be good for you! Personally, I’m not ready to fully take on this. I jumped in too deep. I didn’t consider how my eyes and body would react. I didn’t think. I jumped. I need to give myself some grace and let my eyes heal and work my way up to be able to do this! 

Some people I know can jump right into reading the Bible in 30 days but some (me, lol) need to build our way up. I’ve heard the same (from my parents) with fasting. Some people can maybe jump right into a big fast while others need to start in small amounts and build their body up to fast. This challenge may be like that for me. Something good for you but that you need to build your way up to. It’s knowing yourself. It’s a learning experience. 

Give yourself grace. If you can’t do the 30 day challenge then don’t. It’s more important to be reading God’s word and getting closer to Him no matter how many chapters that is! For me, doing about 40 a day was too much for me to do also dealing with vision problems. So now I’m changing focus and am just reading as much as I’m able to every day. I’m still wanting to get at least 10 chapters in a day but I’m challenging myself to go at my own pace and not stress (because I was stressing a lot). That’s not the point of the challenge. 

The point is getting close to God! 

This is what I invite you to do today! 

Love,

Moriyah

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