Coming up empty?

We had an interesting discussion tonight at church. I shared a thought I had earlier this week and asked the question, “Am I the only one who reads their Bible only to finish reading and not have anything speak to me personally that it was only like empty words on a page?” Everyone agreed that they all had the same experience from time to time.

You have probably had the same thing happen to you. After reading three to four chapters of the Bible or more you finish with a blank stare and wonder if it was a waste of time. Shouldn’t God have made at least one of those verses come alive? We have all had those times when the words seem to ‘jump off the page’ and speak to our hearts personally. Why do we sometimes read our Bibles and come up empty?

I put that question to our group tonight. We had some interesting thoughts that are worth thinking about.

Miriam suggested that God is playing ‘hide and seek’ with us. It’s not that God does not want to be found by us, but that we aren’t looking hard enough for Him. God’s presence surrounds us; the Lord is always by our side. God has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Our problem is that we don’t look—or listen—to know that He is with us. The Lord said, “You will seek for me and find me when you seek for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

I suggested that the problem maybe that we are just in a hurry. We have our ‘to do list’ and we want to be sure to check off our Bible reading for the day. God is not going to accommodate making Himself known to our ‘microwave-in-a-hurry-mentality.’ God said, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

At other times our problem might be that we are focused on the wrong things; the worries of life choke out the word of God (see Matthew 13:22). It’s like an old radio that would be tuned by hand; sometimes you would stop the dial and just hear the static between the stations. The radio signal is there—the music is playing, but we can’t hear it until we tune into the right frequency. Jesus said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says” (Revelation 2:7). We’ve all got ‘ears’, but lets make sure they are tuned in to God’s voice.

We also need to remember that God does not always speak to us in the same way. His word is “living and active,” so while the scripture we read during our personal devotions may not impact us at the moment, the Spirit can—and will—bring to our remembrance His word at just the right moment if we are listening.

Miriam was reminded of a time she was preparing for a Bible study, but just was not getting anything. She sat her Bible down and said “God you will just have to show me.” She then proceeded to make a cake; all the ingredients were in the bowl and she turned on the mixer, but nothing happened. That’s when the Spirit said to her, “Nothing will happen unless you are plugged in.” That’s when she knew what God wanted for their Bible study.

What do you think? Why have you missed out on hearing from God? What might you and I need to do to hear what God wants to say?

My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27 (MsgB)