The streets of my hometown have become so familiar to me that sometimes I arrive back home in the driveway having no recollection of driving. Has that ever happened to you? You know, when you pull up and wonder “Did I just black out?“ Surely you must have stopped at lights, turned on the blinker, turned right and then left to get back home…but you weren’t conscious while actually doing it?
It’s a strange feeling and to be honest it kind of freaks me out whenever it happens, but all it really is is our bodies going into ‘auto-pilot’ mode. We’ve done the route or routine so many times that our brains train themselves to go through the motions without even being conscious of it.
The same sort of phenomenon can happen in our spiritual lives. We go to the same church service, read the same Bible, say the same prayers over and over and over again that sometimes our level of consciousness dulls after a while. We become like robots: efficient and productive, but void of all feeling and meaning, passion and purpose. Yikes.
We’re all susceptible to auto-pilot mode. I confess just recently I was reading my Bible for nearly a half an hour before I realized I wasn’t retaining anything I was reading! I was going through the motions, but my mind was taking its own little mini-vacation to who knows where. I was struck by a passage from John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, which sheds light on this same point. Referring to one of the characters of the book, it says,
“She never studied the Bible or inspected it; she just read it…finally, she came to a point where she knew it so well that she went on reading it without listening.”
Pg 43. East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Reading without listening. That’s what auto-pilot mode is: doing things without really listening, retaining, hearing or feeling. How often do we read the Word of God without listening? How often do we go to church without listening? How often do we pray or worship without listening to the Spirit of the living God? How often are we ministering to a friend without listening?
All of these things are good “spiritual activities” that can help us grow closer to God, but how sad when we reduce them to a set of rituals and routines. We check them off on our ‘Being a Good Christian’ To-Do list and go on our way.
But is that what God wants?
No. God looks beyond our godly behavior, beyond our moral choices, beyond our church activities and stares intently into our hearts. He wants us to read His Word with our spiritual ears, hearts and minds open and expecting to hear from Him – the Author and Creator of our souls. He wants us to go to service ready to learn and receive new revelation about His character and Kingdom plans. He wants us to pray without ceasing about the things that break His heart. He wants us to be desperate for more of His loving and powerful presence in our lives. He simply wants us to want …Him.
If you find yourself on spiritual auto-pilot mode, it’s okay. All of us–no matter how close to God or how mature in our faith–experience spiritual droughts. The important thing is not to stay there! Cry out right now to the living God and ask Him to:
- Ignite your passion for Him once again.
- Snap you out of your routine and show you new ways of relating to Him.
- Take you deeper into His Word, revealing fresh and exciting Truths to you.
- Bring streams of living water into, or back into, your soul.
I love the words from Psalm 42:
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (V1-2)
May your soul pant…thirst…crave for your Father’s embrace this week as you go about your busy life. There is no greater gift in the world than desiring God more than anything else.
**Challenge: Choose to step outside your ordinary routine with God this week! Pick at least one new way of expressing your love to God and connecting with Him. Here are few ideas:
- Turn off all gadgets, turn up your worship music and spend an hour worshiping God in private (or with the kids!) through singing and/or dancing
- Go on a walk around your neighborhood and make it a “prayer walk.” Ask God to lay on your heart things/people/nations you can pray for. (This one can be done as a family as well)
- Read the Word out loud to yourself or nuzzled on the couch with your family. Underline and write out specific verses that speak to you and post them around your house, asking God to reveal to you what He is saying to you.
Be encouraged… when you position yourself to listen, you will hear!
Verses to feast on:
Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:9)
“How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2)
Something Else…
Let the words of “As the Deer” re-ignite your passion for God this week