Is ‘normal’ normal?

It was normal for my mother to read the Bible every morning. She used a simple devotional guide that came in the mail every few months. When I was about thirteen, I thought I should read the Bible also. I began, didn’t understand the ideas and stories in it, but for some reason, reading the Bible became a habit, a normal thing to do.

I also kept a diary (as did my mother) and marked RMB and SMP (said my prayers) in it each day. Perhaps this was obsessive compulsion, but it turned into a total blessing because these many years later, reading the Bible and praying is ‘normal’ each day, even those crazy days that seem far from normal!

Reading the Bible is the only way to hear God clearly. While the Holy Spirit speaks into our minds, those who do not know Scripture, may not recognize His voice. Besides, my ‘I wants’ can confuse things, and the enemy wants to keep me in the dark about what God is saying.

Even so, as Tozer says, God does not bellow to the wide universe and have it come back as an empty echo. His Word goes forth from His mouth and does not return void. It is always powerful and can speak to the needs of the heart. When the Holy Spirit speaks it, it does not need an interpreter or anyone to defend it or apologize for it either.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11–12)

Some mornings I feel eager to read the Bible and hear from God. Some mornings I hesitate with a bit of fear. Like Adam, I want to hide because I feel guilty about something. Often that guilt is not real, but the voice of that old serpent who wants me to think that God does not want the best for me. His goal is to keep me from hearing God’s Word.

The Bible does many things for me. It gives me commands to keep. It pulls me away from my problems into trusting the Lord — where there is peace of heart and a rest for my soul. It also has an amazing ability to show me what thoughts are from my ideas and imaginations, and what is from God’s mind.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:11–13)

God knows everything about me. I can get confused, duped, hazy in my thinking, but the Word of God is able to clarify all that as well as make God’s will clear. The ability to find and reveal my motivations makes confession of sin easier because I know why I do dumb things. For me, a bottom-line person, this is most helpful and important to lay before God.

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Jesus, today may be a ‘normal’ day, other than needing to go out into a -20C blanket of snow for groceries. Nothing else is scheduled as every other day this week. You have also comforted me with the reminder that I can rest in You, trusting You and obeying You. If there is any need for anything else, You will keep me informed. Your faithfulness is my rest — and I want You to always be my ‘normal.’