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b'Years ago, a friend invited me to a huge Christian conference. It was amazing! In an arena filled with people worshipping God, I felt so uplifted and inspired.\\nI was filled with excitement after hearing people discuss the power of God\\u2019s Word and how they had read the whole Bible in a year, and I desired to achieve the same result. After all, as an avid reader, surely I could succeed. How wrong was I?\\nA year later, I was far away from achieving my goal. I had committed to reading the entire Bible, but my pace was much slower than I\\u2019d planned. I could have just given up then, believing that I\\u2019d failed. But I felt like devouring huge chunks of the Bible\\u2014and then forgetting it all\\u2014wasn\\u2019t the way the Holy Spirit wanted me to read His Word. I needed to take baby steps. It wasn\\u2019t easy, and it took me five years, but I eventually finished reading my whole Bible!\\nMaybe you have a goal in your heart to deepen your relationship with God. Maybe you feel frustrated, like I did, but you know this is still something you want to do.\\nIt\\u2019s natural to feel discouraged and sometimes even a sense of despair in this broken world we inhabit, but the good news is that God sent His only Son, Jesus, to save us in our brokenness. His life, death, and resurrection have covered allour failures and shortcomings. Our relationship with Him doesn\\u2019t depend on our achievements\\u2014He is constantly pursuing us with His inexhaustible love! And He wants to help us live a life that honors Him. If we\\u2019ve put our trust in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit living inside us as our helper, comforter, and advocate. His pace may be different from what we had in mind, but we can trust that God\\u2019s way is best. Whenever we have any worries, we can rest in His faithfulness and trust in the God who is our help. Hang in there, and keep drawing near to God. \\u2022 Cindy Lee\\n\\u2022 Sometimes, God invites us to read long passages of Scripture to get a bird\\u2019s-eye view of what He\\u2019s doing. Other times, He invites us to dig deeply into a small portion of Scripture. How do you like to study the Bible?\\n\\u2022 What benefits do you see in reading the Bible with other believers? And reading it by yourself? \\n\\u2022 Have you ever been frustrated with yourself for failing your own expectations? As Christians, we can offer up these frustrations to God. He has compassion on us, and when we seek Him, He will guide us and give us the courage and patience to follow Him (Psalm 32:8-11). \\nCommit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nMatthew 27:45-56; 1 Peter 2:21-25'