About the Author

Becky is an author, speaker, Bible teacher, mom of three loud boys, and the Community and Editorial Manager for (in)courage. She loves writing about anxiety, motherhood, and the kindness of God. Long naps, shady trails, and a good book make her really happy.

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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Becky,
    Love this post! I agree…the best “self-help” book out there is STILL the Bible. As a believer, the Bible comes with its very own resource guide, the Holy Spirit, who will enable me to interpret and understand what I’m reading. It’s kind of a BOGO. But, like you pointed out so eloquently, we can’t special order what we read or believe. I can’t say that I like the warm-fuzzies of the Gospels, but the warnings in Jeremiah are too stern, and the Proverbs – well they step on my toes and I don’t like that. With the Bible, you get what you get with no human commentary. It’s kind of like drinking your coffee black. Am I guilty of wanting to pick and choose? You bet! Do I get lazy and shy away from perhaps hearing something I don’t want to hear? Certainly. Does it mean I GET to pick and choose? Nope. I DO know if I choose God’s living Word, I will never hunger or thirst again. Praise!
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

    • Bev, thanks for letting me know this resonates with you. Your description here of what it’s like for you to encourages my heart all the more to embrace the gift of all of God’s Word! Thank you. ♥️

  2. This is one of the best incourage.me posts I’ve read. “What I really need is Jesus and I can always find Him in the Bible,” is so simple and true.. That is why He is our Bread and Water – the sustenance for life. It’s a good reminder that more is not always better and when we are searching for “special order spirituality”, we miss the One who really satisfies our every need- Jesus. Thank you for this excellent reminder.

  3. OMG!!!! Did I ever need to hear this . Thank you Becky. I feel like lately “I choose” what God wants tell me, or what “I think” God wants me to share with someone. I find myself searching for “just the right” Psalm or scripture instead of reading, truly reading the prayer right in front of me!
    Thank you. Have a wonderful blessed day sisters

  4. Exactly right, Becky – so much noise!! Faith is a focus, but we are easily distracted. Thanks for pulling us back 🙂

    (And thanks for reminding why I don’t miss being a barista )

    • “Faith is a focus, but we are easily distracted.” Yes! I need the continually pulling back too. I’m so grateful God is patient with us and always welcomes us when we come. xx

  5. Oh, Becky. I feel this overwhelm, too! And following one more IG feed (Look! It’s another really good (in)courage writer!) is also starting to feel like adding another cherry tomato to a plate that’s already overflowing with more than I can or should try to consume. It’s so hard to know when to stop when there are so many wise, talented, funny, encouraging, truth-telling voices out there! Sigh… But whether I like it or not, I can only read so much and listen to so many voices before it stops soaking in. And wanting to follow everyone is it’s own kind of FOMO when what I really need is pure, unfiltered, uncropped Jesus on the pages of my Bible.

    • Melissa, you understand the struggle exactly! I think what I’m learning is to fill up FIRST with Jesus. If I have time left in the cracks of my day after I’ve spent time in the Bible to listen to a podcast, read a chapter in a book, or scroll Instagram, I will! And He has often used those as tools of encouragement in my life. But none will ever accomplish a greater work in my heart than God’s Word.

  6. Thank you so much for this word. Lets ger back to way where when we first became a Christian. We had such a hunger for Jesus. Reading his word the Bible and saying our prayers we could not get enough. We were so hurry we wanted more. We wanted to learn more. Pray more. What happened now. We forget about all that. Tv Mobile and our Ipads have taken over distracting us. Keep us away from spending time with Jesus. Seeing what he has to say to us. We if have kids school runs to do house work to do go work as well. Come home see after work make meals see to kids if hav any do the ironing. All these things take up our time especially if Married and Single. Even if have no kids like me we have house work to do other things to do. If a Job to go to. Then after things like this tirdness sets in. Jesus comes to way side. We then just want to sit down do nothing. We then think we family like if parents are elderly we must go see them. Then we find the strength to spend time with them. We also say must before I go check my e-mails. Check my texts messages to see does anyone want me. Or if not going out to see your parents if elderly. You are so tired from doing all house work. Seeing to kids if have any. Plus tried from a days work if work. You.turn on tv relax. After checking your e-maiis and texts on your phones. Plus if have any replying back too them. Jesus again and spending time in reading his word the Bible and Praying go out the window yet again. So let put away the Mobile phone and Ipads how did we manage before theses things where made. When we where first saved we had such a love for Jesus no matter how busy our days got we always found time for Jesus his word the Bible and Prayer. We loved to here Jesus speak to us through his Holy Spirit. The Old Devil love to keep us so busy that we get so tired we have little or no time for Jesus. Lets get back to our first love we had for Jesus. Start spending more time with Jesus. Put away the Mobile and the Ipad. Pray for God to make us put him first. Then we will find we will have time for all the other things we have too do during the day. Stop putting Christianity last. PUT JESUS FIRST IN EVERYTHING YOU DO AND SAY. LOVE TODAYS READING. LESS OF THE MOBILE AND IPADS ECT. I AM ALSO TAKING TO MYSELF.

  7. Oh to be able to articulate this dilemma as well as you do Becky. When you get that feeling of overwhelm from the way too many email, Facebook etc feeds from so many voices that you so want to hear. My realisation now is that it is self inflicted! And as described by others, that feeling of FOMO. As you so beautifully put our first port of call should be His Word. That never failing, never pressuring quiet voice. How did difficulty giving priority to His Word even become such a problem? I so appreciate your reminder to get back to basics. But the irony of this is where this reminder has come from……

    Blessings Becky

    • Teresa, yes, the irony is not lost on me. Which is part of the tension, right? That’s why as a writer I am continually compelled to write the messages God puts on my heart because I know He’s faithful to use them! Yet, I don’t ever want to be drawn to someone’s retelling of God’s goodness before discovering it first-hand in His Word myself. Thank you for your kind words and acknowledging how complex this can feel …. while affirming the simplicity in this: Put God first. Period.

  8. Becky,

    You hit the nail on the head with this post! A lot of churches today are more about “entertainment value” than actually preaching the word of God. They have coffee & donuts to enjoy. A nice praise band to listen to & sing along with. All that is nice. Why do we even come to church? Is it to hear the word of God preached & explained or to have a good time & make contacts? I heard this in a communion meditation: “how do you prepare yourself for church”? Do you read the Bible, pray & listen to good music? Is it simply get dressed, eat, watch TV & head on out? Is church an obligation or a want to out of reverence? Our society needs to stop special ordering their Christianity & the services. Jesus left the splendor of Heaven, came down to dark sin filled Earth & gave us some light. Then He died the most horrible death of all~~simply because He loves us sooo much. I don’t think most in our society realize the immensity of the pain & anguish He bore for them.

    There is nothing wrong with reading some devotional books or doing a Bible study. They help us understand the word better. Absolutely nothing will take the place of reading the entire Bible. You can’t-as some try to do-pick some verses that fit your needs & leave out others. You must start at Genesis where God created the Heavens & earth & all in it. Then read on to see what happens to Israelites, how he picked the disciples, get wisdom from Solomon, hear of His death, then read about His glorious second coming. No more special ordering Christianity.

    Blessings 🙂

    55

  9. Beautifully written article….and I would love to be behind you in Sbux listening to you rattle off your order!!!