When I was 9 or 10 years old, I received my first “quiet time” devotional. I had made a personal decision to accept Jesus into my heart less than a year prior, when my dad gave me a little blue booklet called “The 9:59 plan.” It was a devotional designed to only take 9 minutes and 59 seconds every day.
I felt like such an adult when I woke up 10 minutes early the next morning to do my “quiet time.” I read a few verses from scripture, wrote down the answers to some basic questions, and prayed.
Check.
I had completed my quiet time. Now to go about my day…
Starting then, and for many more years growing up, I would always try to do quiet time the “right way.” Different teachers, pastors, and other Christians around me would tell me how I was supposed to do quiet time.
Much of what I was taught for years wasn’t really that different from the 9:59 plan. I learned I had to do it every day. I should pray, read the Bible, think about how the Bible should change my life…and that’s pretty much it.
Jesus rocked my world when I went to World Race Gap Year training camp, two and a half years ago, when they talked about many unique ways people connect with God. They said some people relate to God through nature, some through worship, some by studying scripture academically, and some through deep prayer. They introduced more categories than these, and they even said I could be a mixture of multiple spiritual connections!
Over the last two and a half years, God has been showing me the ways he has intentionally and uniquely designed me to connect with him.
I connect with my Father through being out in his creation. On top of a mountain, out in the woods, or just at the park, I can feel his presence.
I connect with him through journaling. When I take time to write down how I am feeling, I know much better where I am at, which makes room for him to speak.
I connect with him when I’m in solitude and silence, by quieting my mind and listening to his voice. When he says something to me, I write it down.
I connect with him by changing things up. My time with him rarely looks the same from day to day. Sometimes I need worship. Sometimes I need to go on a walk outside. Sometimes I need Scripture.
At CGA, I have learned so much about how he made me unique through studying personality typology — primarily Myers-Briggs and Enneagram. These tools have shown me there’s a reason why I connect with him in nature. There’s a reason why I need variety. There’s a reason why I journal.
This week in class we discussed many of the different ways people relate to him, based on our personality types. Some do the same thing every single day. Some change it up. Some connect through art. Some read through the Bible once a year.
The beautiful thing is that there are so many different ways he wants to connect with us, and none of these things are right or wrong. Personality study at CGA has helped me more deeply understand my strengths in relating to God, and it’s also shown me places where I need to grow.
So now I want to ask you, friends, how does God connect with you, personally and uniquely? What’s the sweetest thing about your relationship with him?
And if you’re not sure how to answer that question…I pray that you’ll start asking him to meet you in your own way. Our Papa loves each of us and wants to connect with each of us uniquely.
Here’s to discovering more of him!
P.S. If you really want to go deep in discovering your own connection, there’s so much awareness and understanding to be found through the Enneagram and the Myers-Briggs tests. But you have to go deep. Don’t just read the introductory description. Read further. Listen to podcasts about your type. Think about how it relates to your spiritual walk. If any of you guys do start studying this more, I’d be happy to talk to you about it. Feel free to connect with me anytime!
