My alarm clock rings. I slide off my bunk and wander half asleep to the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face, and tame my wavy hair. This wakes me up enough to realize I’m running late to chapel (again), so I throw on an outfit, grab my backpack, and rush out the door.
After chapel comes class, then lunch, then work, then two more classes, and then work again. After that, it’s dinner with the girls and a night of studying. The sun sets over the library and, before long, it’s 11 p.m. My friends and I walk back to our dorm to shower and get some sleep.
But as my wet hair plops onto the pillow, it hits me: I didn’t spend time in the Word that day. My stomach sinks with discouragement. Not again. I read a quick psalm as I’m falling asleep, but it’s not the deep, satisfying drink of living water I know I need.
Perhaps you can relate. Maybe you’re a college student like me, running from one thing to the next only to find it’s midnight and you haven’t stopped to breathe. Perhaps you’re a mom juggling house chores and meal prep and little ones who need you. Maybe you work a demanding job that leaves you exhausted and struggling to engage with Scripture at the end of the day.
Whatever the case, many of us can agree—prioritizing the Word amid busyness doesn’t come naturally. It requires strategy, discipline, and grace upon grace. Fortunately, we have a gracious Father. He’s already laid the table and saved us a seat; all we have to do is show up to the feast. Let’s talk about practical steps to make daily feasting on the Word a priority, even when busyness threatens to keep us from the table.
Know Your WHY
To become faithful Bible readers, we need to understand why time in Scripture matters. If we view Bible reading as a box to check, we’ll never feel motivated. But if we understand the riches of grace in store for us between Scripture’s pages, our desire for the Word will develop organically.
Scripture Is the Bread That Delights
Jeremiah 15:16 has become foundational in my walk with the Lord: “Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart …”
At first, I found it strange for Jeremiah to say that he ate God’s words. But the more I pondered this verse, the more I found his analogy helpful. In fact, I hung this verse at my desk, and it transformed the way I thought about my Bible-reading habits. The Word is like bread for the spiritually starving—bread that becomes more satisfying with every bite. How remarkable that each time we go to the table our delight only increases. The more we show up to the feast, the more joy compels us to keep coming back.
Scripture Is the Water That Sustains
I’ve also been encouraged by Psalm 1:1-3:
How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
This is yet another poignant analogy. The Word is like water, nourishing us from the roots, keeping our leaves green. We don’t read Scripture to check off a box; we read it because it leaves us healthy and fruitful, even when the world threatens to wither us.
Create a Strategy
Now that we’ve explored our why, let’s talk strategy. We know we need the Word. It delights and sustains us. It leaves us joy-filled and fruitful. But how do we move from analogies to practical living? How do we create consistent time for feasting on busy days? Let’s look at three models together that have proven helpful for busy women in my life. I pray they may prove helpful to you as well.
1. No Bible, No Breakfast
The credit for this model goes to my university president. I’ve heard this phrase from the chapel stage at least a hundred times. Dr. White faithfully encourages students to prioritize the Word first thing in the morning. If we can make time for breakfast, we can make time for Scripture. And, for the breakfast skippers, he suggests “the bean and the book.” The Word is more essential than even our most cherished morning coffee routines.
I’ve watched many young women embrace this model and develop a rhythm of faithfulness. It may look like grabbing your Bible right when your alarm sounds and spending time with the Lord in bed. Maybe you’d prefer curling up on the couch with a coffee, reading before the kids wake up. There’s space to be creative and cultivate rhythms that fit naturally into your day-to-day.
2. No Bible, No Bedtime
For the women like me who find mornings particularly challenging, I present the adapted model: no Bible, no bedtime. This strategy encourages time in Scripture before we let our heads hit the pillow at night. Some Christians argue it’s best to give the Lord our first fruits—that beginning our morning in the Word best sets us up for faithful living throughout the day. I think there’s merit to this! It’s wonderful to fix our eyes on gospel realities before we encounter the world and its temptations.
However, if we’re not at our best in the morning, there’s no shame in going to the Word in the evening instead. Just as it’s spiritually beneficial to begin our day in the Word, it’s also healthy to let truth be the last thing on our hearts. Don’t believe the lie that you’re less spiritual if you go to the Word at the close of the day. The Lord simply wants you to come to the table.
3. The First Quiet Moment Method
This is a method I’ve recently been working to implement. Instead of feeling like we can only read the Word at the bookends of our day, this method is all about finding space in the in-between moments. During a long day, my impulse is to turn off my mind when a quiet moment comes. When I have thirty minutes between classes or a little extra time before dinner, I’m tempted to scroll through Instagram® Reels, watch a show, or take a nap—anything that doesn’t require mental energy.
Recently, I’ve been trying to catch myself when I’m reaching for my phone or my pillow and blanket. It’s a better thing to give that first quiet moment of the day to the Lord. I’m sure you can think of similar moments in your daily life—maybe nap time, a lull at work, or a lunch break. I believe the Lord delights to meet us in these cracks and crevices of our day to nourish us with his words.
Consider Practical Tips
Have a Plan
Now that we’ve talked about big-picture strategies for getting to the table, let’s consider some practical tips to make the most of our time there. First, it can be helpful to use a Bible reading plan.
I suffer from decision paralysis. At times, having to decide where to read has kept me from reading at all. It sounds silly because it is! And yet I have a feeling I’m not alone. Sometimes we don’t have the mental energy to choose what to study.
The Bible in a year plan has been the most helpful remedy to my decision paralysis. Being told what to read each day simplifies things! I hold my plan loosely and veer from it when a season calls for a particular portion of Scripture, but it’s helpful to have a default to fall back on when I don’t know what to read next.
Use the Google Doc Method
This method is simple, but it has enriched my time in Scripture, allowing me to dive deep even when life is full. Each day, I type the date into a running document of Bible study thoughts and prayers. I note the passages read that day along with what they teach me, first about God, then about myself. Then I type out my prayers, confessing sin and asking God to refine my heart. This method has proven effective in my busyness. Typing is quicker than physical journaling, but it allows for the same depth of reflection. All my thoughts and prayers are in one place, and the Google Doc goes with me wherever I go because it’s on my phone. How convenient!
Embrace Your Weakness
Despite all our best efforts, we won’t be perfectly faithful to the Word. We’ll fall short. Our weaknesses will be exposed. But take heart because Paul reminded us that Christ’s power is perfected in our weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:9). Coming to the Word hungry and thirsty is the best way to come because bread and water await. Christ’s gospel is for the needy. Consider these words from Psalm 73:26:
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.
When your head is spinning from the day’s to-do list, when you’re being pulled in a hundred directions, when the weight of your busyness presses you to the dust, remember the One who is your portion. Imagine the Father taking you into His arms and carrying you to a bountiful feast. He is our strength when ours is failing. Instead of leaving us in the discouragement of our failures, He restores us, brushing the dust off and whispering, “Here, this place is for you.”
When our heads hit the pillow at night and we realize we forgot to go to the Word that day, may we remember Psalm 103:13-14, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.” May these words give us the grace to rest in our Father’s arms and the courage to return to the Word the next day.
He’ll never stop saving us a seat.
ABOUT ABBY JO THOMPSON
Abby Jo Thompson was a 2024 Lifeway Women intern. During her college years, she has contributed to various publications including The Gospel Coalition, The Focused Pastor, and Brio Magazine. The Lord has given her a burden to write what is good, true, and beautiful, and she has found abundant joy in embracing this calling. More than anything, she wants women to know their Good Shepherd’s heart and find increasing delight in His presence. She prays the Lord will use her words to this end.
