Like Vitamins for the Soul
When I was a child, I spent lots of time in the dentist office. Turns out, sneaking into the kitchen to wet the freshly picked strawberries, then dipping them deep into the sugar bowl before popping them into my mouth ——did a real number on my teeth. Operative word there is sneaking…… Mmmm, but yeah….it was worth it. My parents might have cringed at the cost of all those dental care bills, but the nostalgia of a warm, summer strawberry wrapped in sweet, white sugar is one of my favorite childhood memories.
Sitting in said dentist’s office, I loved looking through the Highlight magazines with their “hidden things” activity pages. Looking for the boot or pliers or a cane or a fork, all hidden within some lovely scene, you get the idea, right? It was a wonderful distraction for a child’s mind; kept me from worrying about the dentist’s chair ahead of me.
To search for those hidden items was a fun mental exercise. But then I grew up into a world that no longer wanted to search for anything. We don’t need to search for that perfect gift in the store….we just order it online. We don’t have to search for Grandma’s favorite recipe….we just pull lots of them up online, and try and find the one most like hers. We don’t have to search for the best doctor or exterminator or school….. just ask for recommendations on social media and boom, you’ll have many options delivered (with opinions included). It’s all so convenient, —— right? Oh but we’re losing something valuable.
We’re losing our fortitude to seek.
To wait, pray, search-out and forebear.
The Word of God is similar to the “Find It” pages I loved at the dentist office. Do you see the correlation? I would sit and stare at every square inch of that intricately drawn picture ——searching. Looking intently at the whole of the page, but searching for the one thing I knew was hidden there.
Recently I sat with a precious lady who loves the Lord, loves her husband, loves her family, and yet was feeling the weight of the world on her beautiful shoulders. We talked long about ways to manage challenges and re-focus. Then I asked what I so often ask, “Are you spending time, daily, in the Word?” She dropped her shoulders and said, “I’m not. I know I need to and I want to, but my days feel so overwhelming and it’s one of the things that too easily gets pushed to the side”. I reassured her that I understood and there was no judgement or condemnation in my question —— for I too have been that overwhelmed lady just trying to keep my nostrils above the waterline of life.
We talked through the demands of her days and worked to find a way that sitting with the Word in a quiet place could be achieved. It was life-giving to help come up with a plan that could work. Shifts and adjustments would have to happen —— but to see that it is possible and achievable is a great first step.
Then she gently, honestly shared. “But sometimes I struggle when I read the Word because I don’t feel like it speaks to my needs. I don’t feel like it applies to what I’m needing in the moment…” She continued to share her heart. As she spoke, I prayed, “Lord, give me what she needs….speak please.”
He responded as He flooded my heart with this visual…it fed us both (that’s when I know it’s from Him). :)
And this is how it came out ———
Everyday, I take vitamins. When I was younger, I never did. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that my body needs help in order to be its best and stay strong to live-well and serve others. So I take those vitamins every, every, every morning. And yet, not once after taking my vitamins have I ever said, “Wow, that felt amazing! I feel so much better now.” Never do I ever “feel” better after taking my vitamins. I also take a probiotic every day —— not once have I ever said, “Oh yea….my colon is feeling so healthy now!” Haha.
I shared with her that reading the Word of God can correlate with taking vitamins. It’s a pursuit of something healthy and good, beneficial and strengthening. Knowing that each dose individually might not change my life or make me healthy ——but the cumulative effect of a daily choice, will benefit me in ways I will not notice moment by moment, but I will see the results of in the days ahead.
My body will be stronger to resist toxins and illness.
My digestive system will be healthier to absorb nutrients and discard what is not needed.
My joints will last longer and my mind will remain focused.
But it didn’t happen with one or two mornings of taking vitamins. It happens due to an ongoing pursuit to seek my best health possible.
Sitting with God and reading His word —— for the purpose of PURSUING HIM and taking in whatever He says in HIS WORD —— is like taking Holy-vitamins for the soul. The cumulative effect of this daily choice might not show up for days or weeks or even years. But it will begin to slowly expose what needs to go and increase what is good and true and excellent and honorable. It’s a slow turn but a life-changing one.
Taking in the daily Holy-vitamins, by spending time in God’s Word, enables us to begin seeing what is good, feeling His gentle nudges, and hearing His guiding voice.
Those Holy-vitamins help us step away from the toxins of the world and feed our thoughts with more of Him.
For many years, especially in my adolescent years and early twenties, I would do my best to read the Bible and have a quiet time each day. But I shared with her that truthfully, I didn’t “get” much out of those Bible readings —— because my heart saw it more as a “duty” rather than a gift. I would read His Word because it was what I was “suppose” to do. But I didn’t feel it change my life. I asked my Preacher Grandfather about it and he told me the old Native American tale of an a chief who told a young warrior that everyone has two wolves living inside them. One compels goodness the other drives us to darkness. When the warrior asked the chief, “How can I know which wolf inside me will win?” The chief wisely replied, “The one you feed the most.”
Taking vitamins….feeds the good. Eating junk feeds the bad. Reading my Bible for the purpose of seeking more of God, feeds the good! But wading through life, doing it my way, feeds the dark wolf and leads to unhealthy places.
In my early 30’s I began sitting with God’s Word, not out of duty or avoidance of guilt —— but rather out of a longing to find out more about who God is and who I am to Him. I didn’t allow myself to expect to feel this way or that way after I read His Word. I just let it soak in. Seep in. Do what it wanted to do; do what my soul needed it to do. I began reading like I was searching for treasure. Looking for what Moses or David or Ruth or Esther or Paul or Peter or John or the woman with the alabaster jar of perfume had found…..looking for the aroma of God….reaching for His robe, wanting More of Jesus. And over time, after reading through the Bible my 3rd or 4th time, I began to see Him and hear Him and understand how He has woven His very self into everything about my life. How the bird sings in the morning because it must sing to its Maker and the stars shine in the night sky because it’s what they were created to do.
The Word of God is like an immaculate piece of artwork, a glorious drawing, with many intricate treasures hidden within the colors and curves of each line. Only when we sit with it daily, for the purposes of Reaching-for-More of HIM, will we begin to see all HE has tucked inside its pages. For the soul that hungers and thirsts for Him, He will be found.
It’s a good daily choice - His Word is like vitamins for our souls.
Oswald Chambers on Reading the Bible regularly:
“The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically.”
“We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them.”
“Your god may be your little Christian habit - the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. We say, 'I can't do that right now; this is my time alone with God.' No, this is your time alone with your habit.”
