Making Time to Read Your Bible During Busy Seasons of Life

Today I have author and blogger Dana Hagstrom on the show. Dana and I talk about our routines and how we can rearrange our day to make God a priority. Even during the busy seasons of our lives, we can make time for God and His Word.

Below is an overview of our conversation. Listen to Episode 62 on Grace for Single Parents for the complete interview.

Making Time For God and His Word

Dana introduces herself and talks about how she listens to God’s voice concerning her ministry. She lives in Mexico with her husband.

What lies Do we believe when it comes to spending time with God and in His Word?

The commonly held belief is there’s just not enough time.

How will creating routines help us find more time?

First, consider what is your perfect day as you go through the P.L.A.N. process.

P: Priority

Look for at least three priorities that you want to accomplish that day. When we give ourselves permission to only focus on three, we will get those three done, and then we’ll probably get a lot more done, but set some priorities. That will set a bit of freedom for you to experience the day.

L: Leisure

Instead of being “go, go, go” from the moment your feet hit the ground till you’re crawling in bed at night, plan some leisure. So many times, we’re task-focused.

What is it look like? Maybe it’s a bubble bath. Maybe it’s sitting down for 10 minutes to read a book, or maybe for you, exercise.

A: Action

This could mean anything from achievement to adventure, but it’s taking action on something you want to do to improve. And that could be reading your Bible. But it’s something you plan each day that’s making you a better version of yourself.

N: neaten our environment

Our environment plays a huge role in our happiness and in our productivity. Whether tackling the junk drawer or doing one shelf in the closet hallway. Maybe it’s simply doing the dishes

5 Ways to Supercharge Your Day

1. Look after yourself

Are you doing something to exercise? Are you eating right? Are you getting the right amount of sleep? All of those things play into the health of our bodies and taking care of ourselves. So just being more mindful of those things will help you supercharge your day. You’ll get more energy.

2. Effective Planning

Some people don’t have any goals. They’re just doing what they can to get through each day.

Even setting simple goals like brushing your teeth. Something we do regularly soon becomes a habit. That’s the way to get it started with a goal.

3. eliminate distractions

If you take a look and think back over the last couple of days or a week, what are those things that are distracting you? How can you do something to avoid or eliminate that? Maybe it’s just having a conversation with your kid and saying, “I need this 10 minutes. This is a no-contact, do not disturb zone.”

4. Analyze your time wasters

Everybody has something they waste time doing. And it’s amazing when you actually start to analyze it, how that can really turn things around for you. It could be games on your phone or social media.

A lot of time, our time wasters are only there because we’re procrastinating because we have something else to do.

5. be efficient with your time and not just go through the motions

Think about what times of the day are most productive for you. If it’s mornings, then schedule the things that you really need to get done in the mornings. If it’s in the middle of the afternoon, and you’re on a slump at 3pm, don’t use that time to do all stuff that takes a lot of attention and focus.

Sometimes it’s just sitting back and figuring out what we need to do each day and, figuring out our bodies, our time, issues, and being efficient and be intentional.

Sometimes we just push ourselves too hard, which doesn’t help us supercharge our day.

What are Some ways we can get into our Bible every day?

Set a timer or put it on your calendar. If it’s not something you’re doing, automatically do start day. Schedule it and find a Bible app on your phone. Or find a devotional that you’re just really excited about. Maybe find some videos.

Ask yourself this question: what is it that you love to do, and what would get you back into the Bible? Maybe it’s journaling, then why don’t you pick a book of the Bible and just start journaling your reflections?

If you’re creative, you can buy a Bible Journal with space to draw, add stickers and even paint on the pages.

Barriers to getting into your Bible every day

People don’t know where to start.

Try the book of Psalms. The Psalms are so great because it’s a mixture of praise, prayer, and sadness. It’s God’s way of cleansing us.

Or try John from the New Testament.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know I am God.” We tend to be “go, go, go.” We need to stop and we need to be still, and we need to be listening for God because he’s talking, he’s going to give us the lessons and the wisdom that we need. But sometimes, we’re just so busy. We don’t hear him.

Where to Find Dana:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-hagstrom-global/
Devotional blog http://be-still.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dana.hagstrom
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AskDavidnDana