Hiding the Word in Our Hearts

I realized years ago that most of my battles are fought and lost or won in my mind.  The thing that has helped me the most in taking my thoughts captive is memorizing the Word.  As any ministry woman knows, it is so hard to find the time to do this.  I used to think that I just don’t have time to hide God’s Word in my heart.  It is true that I don’t have time to sit down and spend 15-45 min. straight to work on this important area of my life…but I do have little minutes!  What do I do when I am showering, fixing my hair and makeup?  What about when I am in the kitchen?  What am I thinking about when I am vacuuming?  Sorting laundry?  Cleaning out the garage?

It used to be that when I was showering, I was working up a good stew over all I had to do that day.  Now I review passages that I have already memorized.   When I exit the shower, I am refreshed in body and soul.  When I am doing my hair and putting on makeup, I prop up my 3 x 5 cards and work on the verses that I am in the process of memorizing.  When I need to put up my feet for a few minutes, I work on a new verse.  I prop the cards on a window sill when I am in the kitchen and run a few verses through my mind.  I take my cards with me when I have an appointment that I will probably have to sit in a waiting room for.  This helps me to be patient when I would otherwise be not so patient.

I cannot begin to describe the difference that these simple acts have had in my life.  It is true that when our minds are on God, we have peace.  I thought I would share a couple of examples of this from my past.  

During one year of deputation, I worked full-time at a Christian school and my kids attended a different Christian school.  We had to leave the house at 7:00 a.m. in order for me to be able to drop the kids off at their school and be on time for my job.  This made for some stressful mornings, especially when my husband was out of town for meetings.  One morning was particularly stressful.  By the time we were all in the car, my daughter and I were in tears, son #1 was in a stew and son #2 was feeling frantic.  To say that I was fried was an understatement.  As I backed out of the driveway, my heart was crying out to the Lord for help.  The kids and I had been memorizing a large chunk of Proverbs 3.  I decided that we needed to use that morning commute to review those verses.  We spent the 15 minute drive reciting the verses together.  By the time we arrived at their school, calm was restored and everyone had a smile on their face.  God’s Word had brought peace to each of our hearts and we proceeded on with our day.

Another example was during our first term in the city where we live now.  I had to undergo a routine medical procedure here. In the USA, it would not have been a big deal. Here it was a little stressful. Things are done so differently and my husband was translating everything. I found myself thinking about the circumstance instead of my God. Then the Lord brought 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 to my mind. “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; ” The Lord was using this light affliction to work in me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of His glory. I laid there thinking about the verse and praying through it and before I knew it the procedure was over and there was no stress. I could go on through the rest of my day without the frazzled, uptight feelings that I have been known to have after such an experience.

This is a rewrite of an old post at my personal blog.  I have been struggling with this spiritual discipline in the throes of language study and many other things that come with living in a culture that is not your own.  It is good to review things from the past to help us move toward the future.  Only God and His Word can give us the stability and peace that we crave.  Won’t you join me in using the little minutes that we usually waste to hide God’s Word in your heart?