Experiencing Spiritual Apathy

The feeling of spiritual apathy is more common in my life than I would like to admit. I would get into some really high moments with God but often find myself not feeling excited like I used to...

I recognize that our spiritual life is a journey. There are no straight and narrow paths. While we can feel like sometimes we've "arrived" there is always more inner work to be done. Doing a google search of what apathy means, I read, "lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern." In the state of spiritual apathy, we start to lose sight of the wonder of God and we become apathetic to His word. Less prayer, less time with Him, not going to church as often, and not surrounding yourself with the things of God all contribute to spiritual apathy. How can we move away from the detoured path and back on God's path for us? In my experience, I will speak about consistency and once in a while mix it up to make it fun. There are several bible verses and stories that help me overcome being apathetic in my spiritual walk.

Whatever it is, mix it up to keep the wonder of God at the forefront of your mind.

Psalm 119:11 says I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you and Luke 6:45 says "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." If the Word is hidden in our hearts then what we speak should be the word of God over our lives. A way to detect if our heart posture is slouching is to test it by examining the word of God in our hearts. A consistent aspect of my spiritual walk is my morning devotionals. The bible app has this cool feature where it keeps track of how many times you open the app and it has streaks and the competitive side of me wants to make sure I don't miss a day. I can tell when I am not consistent because my streak goes down to zero and I have missed days on my devotionals.

I am a big planner and having a routine is important for me. However, routines can get get a little mundane and predictable. The same goes for our routine with God. We're sometimes too busy putting him on a time schedule that it becomes mundane or a task to check off our to-do list. Try mixing up your worship time and how you do it. Maybe it's listening to a podcast, finding the latest gospel hits, or listening to another sermon on youtube, a game night, or trivia. A big one for me is serving. I believe serving is an opportunity for people to see Christ through you. You never know who you may come across that needed your Jesus that day or time. Whatever it is, mix it up to keep the wonder of God at the forefront of your mind.

Father God in Heaven, I pray that you awaken a fresh and renewed spirit in us that allows us to be excited about You again. Help us to continue to wonder about your word and reveal to us where we can increase our time with You. For anyone who comes across reading this, I pray that their heart speaks life, enthusiasm, and excitement about the thing that concerns You. It is in Jesus's name we pray, Amen!