Why Being Consistent With God Feels So Hard (and How to Overcome It) — Part 1

After Easter Sunday service, Margaret was determined to resume her relationship with God.

After arriving home from church, she organized her weekly schedule and made a commitment to spend ten minutes every morning in alone time with God before heading to work.

It’s Monday. She wakes up eager to spend time alone with God. She begins her devotional time by reading Mark 1. Then, she praises God for His goodness and asks for His help during the day ahead.

It’s Tuesday. This morning, Margaret read a meditation from a devotional book she had bought a couple of months ago but hadn’t used yet. The words on the meditation lead her to recognize God's providence and forgiveness.

It’s Wednesday. Margaret wakes up late, leaving no time for breakfast, packing lunch and snacks, or spending time with God.

Once she arrived at the office, she felt relieved to have gotten there a few minutes early. There was a small kitchen at her workplace, so she poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a fresh croissant from a box one of her coworkers had brought.

Seated in her desk chair, Margaret felt an odd sensation—something was missing. She checked her purse and found everything she needed: keys, phone, wallet, hand lotion, and headphones.

“What am I missing?” she said softly.

Then it came to her. She forgot her alone time with God.

“It wouldn’t be possible to have quality time with God in a rushed morning like this one,” she thought.

Margaret resolved to set her alarm ten minutes before her usual wake-up time the next day. This would help ensure her time alone with God.

It’s Thursday. The alarm rings. She hits "snooze" and stays in bed. Five minutes later, the alarm rings again, and she hits "snooze" once more. The fourth time, she decides to look at her phone. Her eyes widen, and she jumps out of bed when she realizes she's late for work.

The same thing happened for a few weeks in a row. There were mornings when she was on time, but she became distracted by scrolling through social media or reading work emails, causing her to forget her personal time with God.

What happened to Margaret’s determination to resume her relationship with God?

I bet you’ve been in this situation. I’ve been there, too.

We start with energy and enthusiasm to draw closer to God. We've resources such as the Bible, prayer books, and devotionals to guide us in our alone time with God. Then, something happens that disrupts the course of our goal.

For some reason, instead of returning to it, we continue living life and forget to reconnect with God and develop our relationship with Him.

Why does this happen? Why does being consistent with God feels so hard?

Today, I’m diving into the first of four reasons why building a consistent relationship with God can feel difficult—and, more importantly, how we can overcome it. Let’s dive in!

Identify Your "Why"

It wouldn't make sense to take action without a reason or motivation. Even the simplest motivation ends up guiding our decisions, because there is something that drives us to do it.

It's the same for the spiritual life. If we don’t have a clear reason why we must develop a relationship with God, we won’t be interested in doing it. It may begin to feel repetitive and boring, making it easy to replace with the commitments of daily life.

Through the Psalms, King David tells us about his many "whys" to remain closer to God. For instance, in Psalm 139:14 (NIV), he expresses: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Emphasis added)

In this verse, King David recognizes that being “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God is reason enough to worship and develop a relationship with the One who created him.

In Margaret’s situation, there was no clear reason to resume her relationship with God, so she ended up forgetting about it entirely.

Building a solid relationship with God starts with a simple yet profound question: Why does this relationship matter to you?

A Guide to Finding Your "Why"

Here are some questions to help you discover your “why” in your relationship with God.

Try to be as honest as possible when answering them. Having a clear purpose will help you develop a relationship with God that will remain strong even when difficulties and setbacks arise along the way.

1. What experience(s) drew me to God?

2. What led me to be a believer or a person of faith?

3. What made me consider God as part of my life?

4. Why do I believe in God?

5. What do I enjoy about being a person of faith?

6. Why is God important to me?

   
   

Final Words

Discovering why we want to have a relationship with God will help us build a lasting relationship with Him. What is your reason for having a relationship with God?

Next time, I’ll share the remaining reasons why building a consistent relationship with God can feel hard, and how to overcome them.

Take a Leap of Faith

If you’re struggling with consistency in your spiritual life, I encourage you to answer the questions provided above. Go somewhere quiet where you can reflect on your reasons for pursuing a relationship with God.

See you in part two! 🤗

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