In 1991, a cross-country move landed me in a foreign place. At first, I didn’t have a single friend, but many reached out to me, welcomed me, and brought me into their circle. After about a year, a growing sense of disappointment loomed over my heart. I wasn’t where I wanted to be, and I knew it wasn’t a geographic longing.
About that time, four of my new friends invited me to go with them to a Christian Conference in Chattanooga. Needing a break from the mom routine I signed up. One morning of the conference I was inspired by a woman from the audience who was called up to the front spontaneously and asked if she would share some Scripture with the group. She then shared from memory the entire book of Colossians.
It …was … awesome!
As I sat there mesmerized by what I had just heard, I wondered what it would be like to really know God’s Word, to have it so imbedded in my heart and mind that I would carry it with me wherever I would go. I wondered what it would mean to my relationship with God if I really knew His Word.
On the six-hour drive home I cried out to God, asking Him to help me make a change. With two small children and a never-ending list of things to do, there were no extra time slots in my day. But I reasoned in my mind that if God wanted me to get to know His Word, then He would make a way. He wouldn’t ask something of me and then make it impossible to achieve.
I began memorizing the book of Ephesians one verse at a time while doing household chores: folding laundry, doing dishes, ironing, vacuuming, driving my kids around. I found that I had many pockets of time when my hands were busy but my mind was free.
That was more than thirty years ago, and God has kept me memorizing book after book – 19 so far. Why do I keep at it? It gets my eyes off myself and onto God. It draws me into communion with my Savior and keeps me walking closely with Him. I’ve found an oasis for my soul, a never-ending source of joy.
I love the statement that God wouldn’t ask us to do something and then make it impossible to achieve. Sometimes we think, “Oh, I would do this or that, but my circumstances prevent it”. Really? Doesn’t God know my circumstances? Yes, God works around our circumstances if we are willing to try!
It’s such a convicting statement for me. I have to go back to that all the time.