Pastor J.D. talks about the importance of time with God, even in dry seasons, and some tools that can help along the way.

A glimpse inside this episode:

It may surprise you, but sometimes this is still a struggle for me. And I’m a pastor and have a Ph.D. in theology. But that doesn’t mean I automatically have a rich, rewarding time with God each morning. Sometimes my “quiet times” (which, by the way, what a stupid name) are awesome, like God really meets me. Other times it feels like I am just going through a dry ritual.

But it’s important to maintain this “discipline” even when I’m not “feeling it,” because real growth happens by a “long obedience in the same direction,” not short spurts of inspiration and goose bumps.

Søren Kierkegaard: Life is lived forward but understood in reverse.

Christian growth: Long pull, not violent jerks. Sometimes, growing up, I’d go to summer camp and start to really feel that “camp high.” You know… you feel like you could basically walk on water, and your quiet times have never been better… and that lasts about two days. But long obedience in the same direction, which Eugene Peterson wrote about, requires a slow, steady commitment. There will be “peaks” and there will also be “valleys,” with quiet times. What matters is that you do it. 

I’m always looking for good tools to take me through the Bible.