“I just feel a bit…” My friend furrowed her brow as she wrestled to find the exact word…
“Stagnant”, she finally said, with a despondent look on her face. Without the regular accountability of church in person, with the discipline of everyday routines disrupted and her tiring shift patterns in paediatric intensive care, she was struggling in her faith.
It’s not the greatest word, is it? A puddle is stagnant when it’s been there a bit too long with no fresh rain falling on it. The water so murky, it no longer reflects the sky like it used to.
I have to be honest that throughout lockdown, I too, struggled with feeling stagnant - and I’ve written a whole book about meditating on God’s word! I was still in the habit of Bible reading but let’s be honest, there’s a fine line between a habit and a rut. I wasn’t being changed by what I was reading and so I wasn’t reflecting God at all well to those around me.
There’s help for stagnant hearts in Proverbs 2v1-6, where the Bible teaches us how to read the Bible. In this passage listening to God’s word is likened to searching for hidden treasure. Let’s just slowly walk through that description and dig a bit deeper into what those words mean. Searching. Hidden. Treasure.
"Change really happens as we articulate one truth that we’ve learned, and store up the truth in our hearts."
Jesus picks up this image in Matthew 13 when he describes the kingdom of God as being like treasure hidden in a field. When a man finds it he sells everything he has to get that treasure. Reflecting back to my experience in lockdown, I had lost sight of the treasure that there is in Christ. Other things had become more glittery. It’s pretty sad when you’re investing more time in a stinky sourdough starter than the infinite treasures that there are in Christ!
The first step out of stagnancy is to confess how my heart is feeling. To use honest words that describe how we really feel: “Lord I’m sorry that my heart feels stagnant. I don’t want to read your word and I know that’s wrong because your words are treasure, life, eternity, Christ. How could I not want that? Please forgive me through Christ’s death in my place, help me to love what Christ loves, help me to believe there is treasure in your word.”
The reality is that this world offers us the easy, tangible, instant gratifications of Netflix, chocolate, wine, etc. There is a curious truth that satisfaction deepens depending on how much effort it entailed. Mastering that difficult musical score is infinitely more satisfying than finishing that boxset. Of course its easier to binge watch for 3 hours than get the Bible open for even five minutes, but if Bible reading really is like finding hidden treasure, you need to remind yourself which is ultimately going to be more satisfying.
Searching implies that there is a clear goal in mind. In the case of treasure hunting, finding the treasure. Reflecting back on my Bible reading in lockdown I was being lazy. My alarm was going off later, I wanted to get a run in before 9, so my Bible time got squeezed. Rather than reading my Bible to find truth that would refresh my heart, I had reduced it down to read-pray-put-it-away-get-on-with-my-day.
The moment we put away our Bibles without capturing what we’ve learned and deciding how we will remember that truth throughout the day, we’re in danger of walking away and not being changed by what we’ve read.
Proverbs challenges us to think of our hearts as a treasure chest. Seven times in six chapters of Proverbs (2v1, 3v1, 3v3, 4v21, 6v21, 7v1 and 7v3) we are told to store up God’s commands within us; to write them on the tablet of our hearts; bind them on our fingers and round our necks; to keep them within our hearts. Change really happens as we articulate one truth that we’ve learned, and store up the truth in our hearts. We’re quick to put in the effort to help our kids learn maths equations to pass exams. Exams that in the end got cancelled, but do we ever invest even a fraction of that effort into learning treasure that is of eternal value? I would recommend writing a little symbol on your hand or texting a Bible verse to yourself so that you can keep on remembering the truth you’ve learned, repenting of where you don’t live in line with it, asking God to help you obey and worshipping God for it through the day.
Memorising God’s word is integral to the vitality of our walk with the Lord. Stagnant puddle or treasure chest, which do you want your heart to be?
Linda Allcock is the author of Deeper Still: Finding Clear Minds and Full Hearts through Biblical Meditation, in which she gives us a framework to help us slow down and dwell deeply on God’s word so that it clears our minds and fills our hearts, making a real difference to the way we live.
Linda Allcock works alongside her husband Jonty in The Globe Church, central London, lectures on the women’s ministry course at London Seminary, and is author of Head Heart Hands Bible reading notes. Her life is a crazy, fun mix of boys (she has three sons plus Jonty!), Bible teaching, writing and feeding people.
