“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” – Ellen Parr
In this introductory post, my goal is to introduce you to several ways to overcome the monotony of Quiet Time.
Admitting that you are bored while reading the Bible is practically considered, by some, a sin. My name is Shelley (Hi Shelley) and I have a confession to make. Sometimes, when I read the Bible, I get bored. Recently, my church has been traveling through the book of Genesis. Each week a group of women and I are doing the Selah Method over the passages that will be preached on Sunday. Can I just say, by the time Sunday comes, we can hardly wait because we have spent five days immersed in the passage! Our curiosity is piqued and we can’t wait to learn more.
Genesis- A Book of First
Genesis is chock full of exciting firsts! The first man and woman, animals, stars, sin, floods, marriage, plural marriages, children, death, murder, lies, annihilation, redemption, mercy, and covenants. Each of these initial or first incidents gives us an insightful glimpse into God’s Character.
However, one first I was not too thrilled about was genealogies. Genealogy is defined as the line of descent traced continuously from ancestor to ancestor. If you are like me, this could potentially be a bit tedious. In the initial 11 chapters of Genesis, I stumbled (almost tripped over) four genealogies. Each list became a potential roadblock containing numerous unpronounceable and seemingly disembodied names followed by a series of begets that could lull the most earnest Bible student to sleep.
What I Learned from Psalm 119
I was tempted to fly over the names quickly and just keep moving, but then I remembered several lessons I learned when I did a Selah study with a small group of women on Psalm 119. The sheer vastness of this psalm almost caused me to lose my momentum even before I began. Psalm 119 is a HUGE chapter containing a whopping 176 verses. At first glance, each of the 22 stanzas of 8 verses seems to say the same thing in several different ways each pointing to the beauty, value, and preciousness of God’s Word.
However, in my study time, I found this beautiful truth evasive to grasp. Each of the glistening nuances of God’s Word the psalmist was describing slipped through my fingers like water. Truth be told, the similarities of each stanza seemed to my dulled spirit like it was the same song, twenty-second verse. But boy, was I wrong!
After some time, I noticed that certain practices in Selah actually morphed the heaviness of duty into delight. Chewing on the specific words and phrases during the day became a way of meditating. And as I meditated, I found God whispering to me about my view of His eternal Word and how it applied to my life. (Take a look at some of the treasures I mined in this article.)
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Sometimes, we start to self-flagellate because boredom overtakes us like a cozy warm blanket while reading through scripture. I even hate to admit it…we get disinterested. (I mean, can we even say this?) But, please, please remember this simple truth about Quiet Time; feeling bored about Bible study happens to the best of us. Instead of rolling over and accepting a passage of scripture as tedious, and taking a nap, our assignment is to figure out how to dispel the gloom of apathy.
During the next four blog posts, I will outline four different ways to help you regain the wonder of scripture. Essentially, I want to help you journey from Boredom to Curiosity!
Go to the first in this series: 4 Ways to Cultivate Curiosity (#1 Investigate)