Add Some Color to Your Quiet Time

Morgan Farr is a strong woman both physically and spiritually, yet she struggled with Quiet Time. In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, she shares how she overcame her frustration.

Morgan asks, "Have you ever just dreaded doing your quiet time? Does it feel like doing what you are supposed to do, but it just doesn’t feel personal?"

Yes, that's a problem I (Dawn) have encountered many times, and God gave me a solution almost identical to what Morgan is going to share here!

Morgan continues . . .

Quiet time is one of those Christian phrases that can be overwhelming to new believers. As someone that didn’t have a relationship with Jesus until my 20s I can tell you, I used to be so very frustrated with "quiet time."

I tried everything that people suggested to be diligent in reading my Bible and none of it fit.  

A few things I have tried: 

• Reading just my Bible  
• Reading my Bible with with a Bible commentary 
• Reading my Bible with a concordance   
• Reading my Bible and taking detailed, organized notes 
• Following a Bible-reading plan 
• Reading through the Bible in a year 

None of it really stuck and that made me feel like the worst Christian ever.

I mean, really, what kind of Christian dreads quiet time?

Finally, one of my mentors suggested that I think about what makes me … ME.

After really thinking about it, I realized I like the academic side of studying the Bible. I love to study, but that isn’t enough. A quiet time is so much more than just studying. Quiet time is your time to communicate with God.  

So how would I have a quiet time and personalize it between just God and me? He is the creator of the universe.

When it hit me that the Creator of the universe loves me and wants a relationship with me, that changed everything.

The Artist of the universe, the Creator of color wants a relationship with me! So why can’t I add color in my quiet time?

I am that person who loves nothing more than a brand new pack of crayola markers, so using color in my quiet time just seemed natural.  

But how do you do it?  

I am sure many of you have heard of Bible journaling. If you google it—or check it out on Pinterest—you will find all kinds of really awesome examples. They are beautiful and delicate.

I tried my hand at it. But honestly it was a little much for me. I didn’t want to make a mistake in my Bible. I am an absolute perfectionist and the idea of illustrating in my Bible made me very nervous. I was unable to actually do my quiet time.

Since Bible journaling was too much, I had to come up with something else.

In lieu of creating an actual drawing in my Bible, I use a system of color-coded symbols to mark the text of my Bible. I gathered up the symbols from around the internet, and the colors were based off of my associations with each group.

What does my Bible marking key look like?

Purple is God’s "team members" (Father, Son, Holy Spirit...)

Red is the cost of our salvation (blood, cross, sacrifice...)

Orange is sin. because it makes me think of traffic warnings (lust, cursed, suffering...)  

Brown is all the things with earth (nation, land, home...)

Blue is the things we give back to God (prayer, repentance, believe...)

Green is the things God does for us (grace, bless, forgiveness...)

Pink is for family interaction (family, marriage, child...)

Using this system has made me so much more willing to do my quiet time! I like being able to look back at a text and see if it was more about the cost of our salvation or the gifts that God has given us.

I also like that it doesn’t take forever to complete my daily reading using this method. Having a one-year-old, writing a blog and running a full-time, functional fitness gym ministry doesn’t leave a lot of down time.

That means I have to be even more diligent about utilizing my quiet time with God to the best of my abilities. In Colossians 3:17, we read,

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

I am so grateful that God made me just the way He wanted to, with a love of Him and the color He created.

Does this sound like a system you might use? Do you use a different kind of coding in your Quiet Time?

Morgan Farr is an Army wife currently stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with her wonderful husband Brian and their seven-month-old son, William. She is a homemaker who dedicates her free time to ministering to other Army wives through Bible studies, one-on-one interactions and physical training. Morgan writes about her transition out of feminism and into biblical womanhood on her blog. You can find her training programs on her blog, FarrFunctionalFitness.blogspot.com.

The Lonely Leather-Bound Book

Dawn Wilson wrote the original version of this back in 1983, but I find it is just as relevant—maybe more so—today. In this adapted Spiritual Life UPGRADE, which is a bit of a departure from our normal posts, let's think about our relationship to the "lonely leather-bound book."

“Oh, boy … it’s only 11 weeks until Christmas! I love Christmas. I seem so much more important then.”

The leather-bound book sighed. He remembered happier days when his owner spent hours reading and focusing on God’s timeless words.

“I don’t get used nearly enough these days. Years ago, when my owner asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior, I was used every day—picked up from my special spot, opened with tender, loving hands, and read at least an hour. She just couldn’t get enough of me! (Psalm 1:2; 1 Peter 2:2)

But that was then.

I’ve been resting here undisturbed for a couple of months now, but Christmas is coming and I hope my owner will at least read the Christmas story. She used to pull me out all the time when her sons were small. She told her husband it was important to teach the boys about Jesus. And she seemed to have a hunger for the truth in my pages. (Matthew 4:4; Psalm 119:103; Job 23:12)

But last Christmas she didn’t open me at all. She was too preoccupied with parties and shopping.

And then, after Christmas, she made a lot of New Year’s resolutions about reading me regularly and maybe even taking me to a Bible study, but I guess her resolutions were empty promises. Again.

Oh, I know she’s been terribly busy. There’s the scrapbooking class and trips to the mall, and she’s especially fond of that spa.

She reads several books each month that talk about me. It’s not the same, though. I’m the real deal.

I do get dusted off occasionally, along with the coffee table and candy dish. She feels she needs to make a good impression for company. Anyone who knows my owner knows she’s very concerned about appearances, and I’m such a ‘spiritual’ decoration.

Please understand. It’s not that I don’t get picked up. I get carried to church every Sunday—though heaven only knows why. My owner doesn’t bother to look up the verses when the Pastor preaches. I’m just good ‘for looks,’ I guess.

And I suppose in a few years I’ll be replaced by a newer, snazzier model. I hope it will get used more than I have, but I doubt it.

She’s already got six translations, a big print version, and two devotional Bibles on her bookshelves.

Last month was a thrilling time for me, though. My owner had a lousy time with her kids, and she got so upset she sent them to bed early. Frustrated, she plopped down on the couch for a good cry. I was there on the coffee table—ready, as usual. She stared at me for a long time through her tears, then reached out and picked me up.

I was so excited!

She thumbed impatiently through my pages, wishing I’d fall open to a good answer or a quick promise … something, anything that would speak to her heart.

How I wish she’d get familiar with me before these moments of crisis arrive.

She did seem somewhat encouraged as she lingered in the psalms, though, and I was glad to help. One of her boys got out of bed to visit the bathroom, and he seemed surprised to see my owner reading me. No, shocked would be a better word.

Most of the time, I remain here forgotten, or at least, neglected. Once in a while she gives me a guilty glance. Oh, how I laughed at her expression when the Women’s Ministries director stopped by last week. She glanced over her shoulder at me, shocked to hear me screaming. (Actually, it was her conscience doing all the screaming.)

She’s been in denial about me for so long she can’t recognize her desperate need.

She forgets I bear witness to the One who gives life—not just eternal life, but the daily life her heart craves. I could show her God's wonders and help her understand His ways. I could teach and equip her to serve the Lord. Most of all, my words could make her more like Jesus! (John 5:39-40; Psalm 119:18, 130; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 17:17)

Sometimes I feel like extra baggage, especially on vacations. I can’t believe how much I traveled last summer. I was in seven states, but she didn't use me once.

Once she even took me on a cruise. I didn’t see much, though, except the inside of my owner’s suitcase. Her priorities were clear. She pulled everything else out several times, but I can’t see why I even went along. I just took up space.

The house is pretty chilly today, but I feel hot and stuffy. It’s hard to breathe when I’m covered up with magazines and all those catalogs. I can just barely peek out.

Sometimes I get lonesome and wish for the ‘good old days’ when my owner loved me more than anything, even food. (Jeremiah 15:16)

I was alive and powerful in her life—a real eye-opener, motivator, wise counselor and friend. I brought her peace and joy. I showed her how to make God smile.

Oh… she’s coming!

Hey, I’m over here—over here!”

Do you have a "lonely Bible" too? Could you schedule some regular visits?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is the Director of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in MInistry (NEWIM San Diego). Dawn and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

This post was adapted from an article I wrote for Spirit of Revival magazine, a publication of Life Action Ministries, in 1983. Used with permission.