The Time Trap: When Life Crowds Out God’s Word

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Do you have 12 minutes to read the entire Bible this year? Of course you do. Just 12 minutes a day. That’s less time than it takes to make coffee and check your phone in the morning.

You also have 2 hours and 16 minutes to scroll social media today. That’s the average amount of time Americans spend on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok every single day. In fact, we spend 6 hours and 40 minutes online daily—enough time to read through the entire Bible more than 30 times in a year.

What does this say about what we truly treasure?

Last year, 26 million Americans mostly stopped reading their Bibles—the steepest decline on record, according to the American Bible Society. Yet in that same period, our digital consumption continued to climb relentlessly. We’re not too busy for what we love. We make time for what we value.

If this comparison stings a little, you’re not alone. In my years of pastoral ministry, I’ve heard every version of “I just don’t have time for Bible study.” I’ve also said it myself during particularly demanding seasons. But here’s what I’ve learned: our schedules don’t lie about our priorities. They reveal what we truly treasure, often in ways that surprise even us.

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The “Better Part” in a Martha World

Jesus understood the battle between urgent and important long before Stephen Covey wrote about time management in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. In Luke 10, we find Martha “distracted with much serving” while her sister Mary chose to sit at Jesus’s feet. When Martha complained about Mary’s apparent laziness, Jesus’s response was gentle but clear: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).

The Greek word for “distracted” here is perispao, literally meaning “to be pulled away” or “dragged around.” Martha wasn’t doing anything wrong. She was serving Jesus, preparing food, and being hospitable. These were good things. But she was being pulled away from the better thing.

Here’s what strikes me about this story: Martha was busy for Jesus while missing Jesus Himself. She was so focused on serving God that she missed being with God. Sound familiar?

We live in a Martha world. Everything feels urgent. The work project has a deadline tomorrow. The kids who need lunches packed and permission slips signed. The elderly parent who needs a phone call. The ministry opportunity that requires a response. The house needs cleaned before guests arrive. All good things. All legitimate needs.

But Jesus calls us to something different. He doesn’t rebuke Martha’s service—He addresses her anxiety and her priorities. Mary’s choice, He says, “will not be taken away from her.” The time spent in God’s presence has eternal value that transcends every urgent demand.

Even Jesus Himself, with unlimited good He could accomplish, made this choice regularly. Mark 1:35 tells us: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” This wasn’t a one-time event—Luke 5:16 tells us “He would withdraw to desolate places and pray” as His regular practice.

Think about that. Jesus had sick people to heal, disciples to teach, crowds to feed, and a cross to bear. Yet He regularly withdrew from these pressing needs to spend time alone with His Father. If the Son of God needed this rhythm of withdrawal and renewal, how much more do we?

[For more insights on maintaining focus during Bible study, see: The Distraction Trap: When Everything Else Seems More Urgent.]

Why We Struggle with Time

Here’s the uncomfortable truth I’ve had to face in my own life: most of our time struggles aren’t really about time. They’re about priorities, and priorities reveal what we truly treasure.

Jesus taught this principle clearly: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). But I’ve discovered the reverse is equally true: where your time goes, there your treasure is revealed. Our calendars and screen time reports often tell a different story from our stated values.

The statistics are sobering. Only 16% of Americans read the Bible most days of the week. Among Protestant churchgoers—people who presumably value Scripture—only 32% read it daily. Meanwhile, the average American checks their phone 96 times a day and spends hundreds of hours annually on digital entertainment.

We don’t have a time problem. We have a treasure problem.

Here’s what I mean: when something truly matters to us, we find time for it. Parents find time to attend their children’s games. Couples find time to text throughout the day. Students find time to study for subjects they’re passionate about. We don’t say we’re “too busy” for our wedding anniversary or our best friend’s crisis call.

But somehow, meeting with the Creator of the universe gets relegated to leftover time—the minutes after we’ve exhausted ourselves with everything else. We approach Bible study like we approach exercise: something we should do when we have extra time and energy, rather than something essential for spiritual health.

The enemy doesn’t need to tempt us away from Scripture with blatant sin. He just needs to fill our lives with so many good things that we gradually crowd out the better thing. Before we know it, we’re living like practical atheists—people who believe in God but live as if He’s not particularly relevant to our daily decisions.

[If familiar Bible passages have started feeling routine, you might find this helpful: Beyond Familiar: How to Fall in Love with Scripture Again]

Creating Sacred Space in Chaotic Schedules

So, how do we break free from the tyranny of the urgent and create space for what truly matters? Here are two practices that have transformed my relationship with time and Scripture, as well as the lives of countless people I’ve walked alongside in ministry.

Start Where You Are, Not Where You Should Be

The biggest mistake I see people make with Bible study time management is starting with unrealistic expectations. They decide they’re going to wake up an hour earlier every day, read three chapters, journal extensively, and pray for thirty minutes. By day three, they’ve overslept twice, feel guilty about their failure, and give up entirely.

Here’s what I’ve learned: better to spend five minutes daily thinking about one verse than to skim through pages feeling rushed and guilty. God isn’t impressed by the number of chapters you read or the length of your quiet time. He’s honored by a heart that seeks Him consistently, even in small moments.

Start with five minutes. I’m serious. Set a timer if you need to. Choose one psalm or one paragraph from the Gospels. Read it slowly. Ask yourself: “What is God showing me here?” Write down one sentence about what you notice. Pray about what you’ve read.

Can you find five minutes in your day? Of course you can. You spend more time than that waiting for your coffee to brew or scrolling through texts while sitting in your car before walking into work. The key is consistency, not duration.

After two weeks of five minutes, you can expand to ten. After a month, try fifteen. But don’t start there. Start where you are, not where you think you should be.

Use the Margins, Don’t Wait for the Mountains

Most of us are waiting for large blocks of uninterrupted time that rarely come. Meanwhile, we’re missing dozens of small opportunities throughout each day. I call these “margin moments”—the spaces between scheduled activities where we usually reach for our phones.

Consider these daily margin moments: waiting for your coffee to brew, sitting in the school pickup line, the first few minutes of your lunch break, walking to the mailbox, and the transition time between work and dinner preparation. These five- and ten-minute windows add up to a significant amount of time throughout the day.

The key is intentionality. Instead of automatically reaching for your phone during these moments, go for God’s Word. Keep a Bible app on your phone, a small New Testament in your car, or note cards with verses in your wallet.

One of my congregation members, a busy mother of three, discovered she could listen to entire books of the Bible during her daily walks around the neighborhood. Another member, a construction worker, started listening to the New Testament during his commute and finished it in six weeks. A college student began reading one psalm each morning while her coffee cooled down and found herself looking forward to these moments of peace before her day began.

These aren’t elaborate spiritual disciplines requiring monastery-like conditions. They’re simple adjustments that leverage time you already have.

Simple Steps to Reclaim Your Time This Week

If you’re ready to move beyond good intentions and create actual change in your Bible study habits, here are three specific actions you can take starting today:

Conduct an honest time audit. For one week, track how you spend your time versus how you think you spend it. Use your phone’s screen time report and a simple notebook to log where your minutes go. The results might surprise you. Most people discover they have more margin time than they realized—they just weren’t being intentional about using it.

Apply the “coffee cup test.” Choose one existing daily habit—brewing coffee, brushing teeth, checking email—and attach five minutes of Bible reading immediately before or after it. This leverages the psychological principle of habit stacking, making it easier to establish consistency without relying on willpower alone.

Practice the “better part” evaluation. Look at your schedule for this week and identify one “good thing” that might be crowding out time with God. This isn’t about elimination, it’s about evaluation. Could you listen to the Bible during your exercise time? Could you read one psalm before checking social media in the morning? Could you replace thirty minutes of evening television with Bible study twice this week?

His Time is Always Available for You

Here’s what I want you to remember as you wrestle with time management and spiritual priorities: even when you can’t find time for God, He always has time for you. Your worth isn’t determined by the length of your quiet time or the consistency of your Bible reading schedule. God’s love for you doesn’t fluctuate based on your time management skills.

The same Jesus who told Martha about choosing “the better part” also knows the legitimate demands on your schedule. He understands the pressures you face, the responsibilities you carry, and the exhaustion you feel at the end of long days. He’s not standing over you with a stopwatch, disappointed by your imperfect attempts at spending time with Him.

But He is gently calling you, just as He called Martha, to consider what truly deserves your attention. He’s inviting you to discover that time spent in His presence—even five imperfect minutes—has eternal value that transforms everything else you do.

The “better part” that Mary chose isn’t about becoming a monk or abandoning your responsibilities. It’s about recognizing that your relationship with God isn’t another item on your to-do list—it’s the foundation that makes everything else meaningful.

You have time for what you treasure. When you begin to treasure time with God, you’ll be amazed at how much time you have.

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