I grew up knowing what “good Christians” are supposed to do to grow in their faith. Read the Bible, pray, go to church, volunteer, be generous, etc. There’s even a children’s song that goes,
Read your Bible pray every dayPray every dayPray every dayRead your Bible, pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, growThe next verse is less encouraging.
Neglect your Bible, forget to prayForget to prayForget to prayNeglect your Bible, forget to pray and you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink
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| Photo Credit: Markus Spiske |
As a kid it seemed like such a simple formula. Read my Bible + prayer = growing in God. Not surprisingly, the ease of that message wore off over time. There have been times in my life, some longer and more serious than others, where all the Bible reading and prayer in the world seem to do absolutely nothing in the face of the very real problems I was facing in my everyday life.
The story in Proverbs 24 is the kind I’d like to forget when I’m struggling to keep up my regular rhythm of Bible reading and prayer. It’s not a complicated concept--if a field is left untended or a fence unmended, they will only get worse over time. While I haven’t tended a garden since I was a kid (and was forced to by my parents), last summer the small raised beds on my back patio were perfect evidence of this passage. I had just bought my condo and wasn’t up for undertaking any sort of growing project, so I let them be. Though I didn’t plant anything, weeds crept in completely uninvited and took over all three of the beds. It was much more work to remove them once they had taken over than it would have been if I hadn’t let them get so weed-ridden in the first place.
Most of us probably know the heart of this message without having to think about it too much. Good things take work, and if we don’t put in the work, they fall into apart. But we often don’t want to deal with all the little mundane drudgeries to get us to that outcome. It’s much easier and more pleasant to watch another episode of my TV show than to heave my Bible onto my lap to do some reading and soul-searching. A day or two of skipping prayer doesn’t seem like a big deal. Sleeping in on the odd Sunday won’t hurt. And it’s true, none of these things are intrinsically bad--but we often fail to consider what kind of person these actions, or lack thereof, are slowing forming us into.
Author (and Calvin College professor) James K.A. Smith has written several books about the ways our habits and culture shape us, often in ways we don’t even recognize. In Desiring the Kingdom he writes, “All habits and practices are ultimately trying to make us into a certain kind of person. So one of the most important questions we need to ask is: Just what kind of person is this habit or practice trying to produce?” (page 83)
At its heart, this passage in Proverbs is asking a similar question--do we believe the rhythms of faith can form us even when we don’t--or perhaps can’t--see the fruit? Reading the Bible and praying every day isn’t as simple of an equation as the children’s song makes it out to be, but over time, it can slowly form us into the kind of people who are committed to these good practices even if we can’t see the tangible results right away. When we're in painful, devastating circumstances and our faith practices aren't any immediate help to soothe our hurt, God's grace sometimes doesn't look much like grace at all. But God’s grace is often a slow one, and when we ask him to meet us in these places, he can and will use them in his time.
What kinds of commitments might God be asking us to make--and follow through on--so that he can make our tomorrows better than our todays?
[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]
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