Help! I Can't Keep Up With My Bible Reading Plan!

By: Jenifer Metzger

We are now in April.  A time of spring rains, budding trees, and chirping birds. The earth is waking up and showing off and it is beautiful.

It's also a time when so many people have given up with their Bible reading plans for the year. We start off strong in January. February comes and we start to get a little behind, but no worries, we can catch up. March arrives and we feel like we'll never catch up. Welcome April, let's just give up.

Is that you? Have you fallen behind in your Bible reading plan? Do you feel overwhelmed? Are your quiet times lacking passion? Or maybe they don't even exist anymore?

Friend, we've all been there. I've been there. You are not alone. The first thing I want you to do is take a deep breath. As you exhale, I want you to know that it is going to be okay.

What to do when you can't keep up with your Bible reading plan.

1. Most important, you need to understand that Bible reading plans are not there to intimidate you, rule you, or pressure you. They are simply a guide to help you. Your Bible reading is far more about meeting with God and having a relationship with Him than about checking off a box with a book and chapter.

2. Focus more on getting into the Word of God than keeping up with a plan. If you are reading and God is really speaking to you through a chapter or verse and you feel like you need to park there awhile. By all means, park there! If He is teaching you something, take that time to soak it in and meditate on it.

3. If you have fallen behind and want to catch up, don't stress, you can do it! There are so many options. You can jump to the current date and just keep going from there. You can pick up where you left off and ignore the date moving forward. You can read one day and add an extra chapter each day until you get to where you want to be. So many options and none are wrong!

4. Try breaking up the day's chapters. In the Woman to Woman One Year Bible Plan, there are typically four chapters a day. You can break that up by reading two chapters in the morning and two in the evening. You could also break it up by reading two chapters when you wake up and listening to two chapters via a Bible app as you drive to work. You don't have to read all of the day's chapters at one time.

5. If you're struggling to keep up because you are struggling with the passion for a quiet time, pray and ask God to give you a desire, passion, and hunger for His Word. Then, dive in heart first. Once you get that taste of His goodness, the desire, passion, and hunger are quick to follow. 

6. If you're struggling to keep up because you are struggling to understand, be sure you are praying before you read the Bible. Ask God to reveal to you what it is He wants you to learn as you read. And know that you're not meant to understand everything right now. Sometimes we read something in the Bible but it doesn't make sense or apply to this season of our life. But a few weeks, months, or even year down the road, it will all click in.

Don't let a Bible reading plan stress you out or cause you to quit reading God's Word. Remember, it's a guide to help you, not hinder you. And the Bible is about a relationship with God, not a checklist.

For the Woman to Woman Ministries One Year Bible Reading Plan, click HERE.

Discussion:
1. Are you using a Bible plan this year? Are you keeping up or struggling?
2. What are other ways you can encourage someone to stay on track with a Bible plan that have worked for you?