I was teaching a lesson about scripture study to some youth.
I gave each of them a sticky note and asked, “What is your stumbling block when it comes to regular and meaningful scripture study?”
Pretty quickly, we had filled the board with sticky notes:
- I’m too tired (that was up there a lot 😉 )
- I’m too busy
- It takes a long time
- I have to be really focused to understand them
- I feel like I don’t know how
And then I asked them: “How can we remove each one of these stumbling blocks?”
It was SO COOL to see the empowering look in their eyes as they realized that they could could pretty easily come up with ways to solve their own problems.
- read them at a different time of day
- make it a priority before I do homework
- make sure I’m in an environment where I can study
- lower my expectations for what I can do on a weeknight
- get a study guide
It seemed so easy for them to list their stumbling blocks, almost as if they were listing facts: “This is just how it is – effective scripture study isn’t possible for me right now.”
But then it was almost equally easily for them once they realized that they could come up with the solutions.
God can and will take away our stumbling blocks.
I believe one way He does this is by allowing us to identify them and then seek personal revelation to know how to remove them.
He doesn’t want us to be stumbling constantly.
He wants to help us turn our stumbling blocks into stepping stones to a greater future.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
