Researching vs. Receiving

            Breaking news from God. That’s how I see blogging. I love it and enjoy sharing what the Lord is teaching me. It’s the way I journal. Except I share my journal with whoever cares to read it. So when a woman said, “God is commanding you to take a vacation from blogging,” I felt my creative hands being tied.

            She said, “He wants you to quit blogging for a while and spend that time reading his Word, staying in it longer than usual.  After you read two chapters, read another chapter, then another chapter after that. Just keep reading.” God knows me so well. He understands I have a difficult time sitting still unless I have a project to research. What about you?

            So, after confirming the directive, I obediently put blogging aside for a week. In my time in the Word, the Lord revealed many new truths, but this was the “aha” moment. 

            There’s a difference between researching and receiving.

            What does that mean?

            Let’s revisit the Mary and Martha story to understand.

            “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

                ^‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

            I realized I was a Martha in the way I studied the Bible. 

            I had no trouble spending hours researching a message, working on a book or doing someone else’s Bible study, but those were all busy Martha activities. I thought I was spending time in God’s Word and I was, but I was setting the agenda, telling God what I wanted him to speak to me about. When I was writing a message, I had a topic in mind. When I worked on a Bible study lesson, I was looking up a fill-in-the-blank that another person created.

            I was researching, not receiving.

            God wanted me to give him a blank check to fill in with whatever he desired to give me.  I needed to be like Mary, sitting at his feet, hanging on his every word in the Word.

            I am not suggesting we quit our weekly Bible study and throw out all our devotional books. Structured studies are valuable and teach us a great deal.  I won’t stop researching messages and I’ve obviously resumed blogging. But what I am saying is our Father wants to speak to each of us individually through his Word. He doesn’t want to do a group text. He desires for us to open the lines of communication to him alone by reading directly from the Bible, book after book, chapter after chapter, verse after verse.  I started with the writings of the Apostle Paul, but you can begin anywhere and open a window to what the Lord wants to reveal to your heart. 

            There has to be a healthy balance between researching and receiving. We miss so much when we don’t have that one-on-one time with God. This past week, my time with him was like two old friends seeing each other for the first time in five years. He had so much to say to me that I nearly filled up my journal. He has a basketful of things to say to you as well. He’s waiting patiently.

            When we need an answer to a prayer, this style of study is a great way to find it. When we seek clear direction, the Lord will provide it. When we desire a revelation from God, his Word will come alive and show us something we’ve never seen before.

            This revelation has changed the way I do quiet time. I hope it will also be a word of encouragement for you to be “Mary-like” in your studies. We can find the answers to many of our burning questions at the feet of Jesus.