When You "Fall Behind" In Your Bible Plan

By: Jenifer Metzger

We are now a few weeks into 2025. This is often when people begin to give up on New Year's Resolutions and goals, and it's also a time when so many people have given up with their Bible reading plans for the year. We start the year off strong, then we get a little behind, but no worries, we can catch up. But pretty soon we feel like we'll never catch up and we just quit.

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 aren't rigid guidelines you must follow or else. 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 it is 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 each day's reading 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 five chapters a day. You can break that up by reading three chapters in the morning and two in the evening. You could also break it up by reading three 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.

7. Find a buddy. Just as it's easier to go to the gym when a friend is there waiting for us, when we have an accountability partner waiting to hear from us, it helps encourage us to jump in and read the Word. At Woman to Woman we have the Daily Reflections of Hope accountability group. For more info, click HERE.

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.

To get the printable 2025 Bible reading plan, click HERE.

Discussion:
1. Are you following a Bible reading plan? Are you on target?
2. How do you feel when you "fall behind"?