ADHD Bible Tools

This ADHD Bible Tools website is a collection of resources for those who want to study God's word, but have a hard time staying focused on one thing for very long. This website is built on the idea that new ideas and new ways of doing things are more interesting to the ADHD brain. Instead of forcing ourselves to do the same kind of Bible study over and over, and getting frustrated that we are bored of the Bible-- GOD'S INSPIRED WORD!-- let's use our God-given desire for newness to study His word in new ways. 

"For God has given us not a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline." -2 Timothy 1:7. 

Self-discipline doesn't have to look like forcing yourself into a routine that you know you won't keep. You don't have to read the Bible in a year or do one study at a time to be a good Christian. If you struggle to keep routines, if the "21 days makes a habit" maxim doesn't work for you, don't fear-- your mind is just as useful to God's kingdom as the Type-A office employee who doesn't need a million reminders and never shows up late. 

If your mind is easily scattered, if you need reminders, if you lose your place and have to come back to where you started, if you forget the life lessons you have learned- you are no different than the Israelites in the desert, who were God's chosen people. While you may struggle with these things more than your neighbor, what a blessing to be continually reminded of this harsh truth: that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What others forget, you have no choice but to see. Your failings are brought up often, by friends, coworkers, teammates... your lateness is seen as a moral failing, your difficulty remembering things as a personal flaw, your tendency to start new things before finishing others scares you, and nobody sees just how difficult it can be to shower, brush your teeth, and do your laundry. 

Yep. I feel that. 

But let's not forget that you are constantly noticing things about the world and people, maybe questions occur to you that no one else seems to wonder, and your brain creates pictures and scenarios like no other. These are things I personally experience, maybe yours are different. But until this year, I never put together that the very things I struggle with in reading the Bible (not sticking to the same chapter, not comprehending what I'm reading until I've heard it multiple ways or drawn it out, reading S L O W) are the very things that help other people understand the scripures better too (even if they don't have ADHD!) While I am embarrassed to say that I had to draw out in pictures each part of the verse because I couldn't understand it, another girl in my Bible study begs me to draw more because she understood it but doesn't picture it that way. While I am embarrassed that I couldn't read the Bible in a year, another friend points out that I have studied in depth more than I could have if I rushed through. While I am embarrassed to say I skipped around in my reading, the Holy Spirit points out things throughout the Bible that He needs to point out to me in  that very moment. While I am embarrased of how easily overcome with emotion I am, and how frustrated I get, another friend wishes he could emotionally connect better. While I am embarrassed of sharing all the things I see that I think are signs of God, for fear that I'm wrong and I shouldn't be saying those things, someone points out to me that EVERYTHING good comes from above... I'm just noticing a small sample of those things. 

God made you this way for a reason. 

Let's lean into the beautifully different ways our brains were created and find how to work with them to study God's word. 

-Esther Rose