Mikella Van Dyke

Seven years ago, Mikella Van Dyke took to the internet to share what God was teaching her in her quiet times. Since then, she’s gone on to get a master’s degree in theology and has grown her small devotional blog into a full-fledged ministry, Chasing Sacred, where she teaches women how to study the Bible and know God better. As a busy mom of five little ones, Mikella knows the value of dedicated time alone with God. That’s why she wrote her first book, “Chasing Sacred: Learn How to Study Scripture to Pursue God and Find Hope in Him,” and accompanying “Chasing Sacred Bible Study: A Five-Week Journey Through Colossians and Philemon.” Join us for a fascinating conversation about Mikella’s childhood in Thailand, her struggle with striving and despair, her passion for biblical literacy and the resources that help her build a vibrant prayer life.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?

Growing up in Thailand has shaped so much of my identity. You asked me about my favorite food, so I’ll tell you about Thai food — Thai street food, to be exact. It feels like just yesterday that I was pulling up to my favorite mom-and-pop noodle shop on the side of the road in Thailand.

This soup — a Ramen-like noodle soup — was my go-to food on school days growing up. My friends and I would enjoy it even on 100-degree days for lunch in Chiang Mai, Thailand, so I’ve never associated soup with cold weather. As a high school student, I would hop off my preferred mode of transport, a motorbike. The bustling city where I went to school always seemed full of possibilities, and these soup shops felt like home. I’d sit with my four closest friends, chatting about our international school’s latest new student who was transferring from England or what activities we were partaking in after school.

At our international school, each of the 40 kids in our class came from a different nationality. Slurping my soup with my metal spoon and using the chopstick to grab the last of the noodles, I always felt at home. Now, even though I live in America, I take any chance I can to eat Thai food — and remind myself of my growing-up years.

a dirtbike kicking up dirt — Trent Haaland; Unsplash

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So, what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity (or activities) do you love engaging in, which also helps you find essential spiritual renewal?

In my free time, I love to hop on a dirt bike and ride the trails around our house. I enjoy the whipping of the wind and the crackling of the branches when I go off the beaten path — and the quietness that accompanies these rides. (My normally noisy four boys and one girl are silenced by their helmets.) We ride. We are the ride-or-die clan that spends hours motoring around the woods, sometimes hopping off with our fishing poles in tow.

I never assumed I’d be a boy mom, yet the thrill of the dirt bike reminds me of my childhood days riding a motorbike in Thailand. These sweet times with my kids make me nostalgic for my own childhood and bring up memories of riding through the old dirt clay roads to our village house on the border of Myanmar.

On dirt bikes, side by side with my kids, I feel free; find quiet in my busy, chaotic household and life; and take a break from the fighting for a minute. It is here that I experience the quiet, hear from God and can be still enough to take in the beautiful New Hampshire scenery.

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness. Every human too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you hide it?

I really struggle between striving and despair. (Hi, Elijah in the Bible! I see you!) It is a dance I do constantly. I’ve often wondered what it really means to let go of control and constant striving without falling into depression or feeling like I want to give up. Finding that balance has been a challenge, especially in my writing. There have been times when I’ve relied too much on my own skills and resources and other times when I’ve felt like giving up entirely.

God has been teaching me that he has the power to handle things and that I don’t have to try to control everything myself. I love this quote: “God can do more with my surrender than I could ever do with control.” I’ve found that my tight grip on things has often been what’s kept me from experiencing God’s best. I’ve held on too tightly out of fear — fear that if I let go, I’d become irrelevant or useless. I think this is the main fear behind this dance, where I vacillate between striving and defeat.

When you look through the Scriptures, you see that God often asked the Israelites to trust him in really unconventional ways. He didn’t want them relying on the usual markers of power and control. For example, he didn’t want them leaning on kings for leadership or using chariots and horses for strength. He was teaching them to rely on him, not on human systems or tools.

Take King David, for instance. Even though he was a man of great faith, there was a moment when he gave in to fear and decided to count his troops (see 2 Sam. 24 and 1 Chron. 21). It was like he was trying to measure his own power and security even though God had already proved that he was in control. I can totally relate to this. Sometimes, I find myself counting my own strategies and plans, thinking that they’ll make me successful or relevant.

Imagine being in a battle and hearing the distant thunder of enemy horses, the ground shaking with the approach of a massive army. Yet you are an Israelite, so the core of your fighting force would have been foot soldiers. It’s easy for me to feel overwhelmed and want to rely on conventional methods of strength and security. The world pushes us toward power, efficiency and control, and honestly, so does my own instinct.

But here’s the thing I’ve learned: when I finally stop trying to make everything work on my own, I see that God is way more capable than I ever could be.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?

I have been running my ministry, Chasing Sacred, for seven years now via my website and Instagram. It started because I had a desire to share what I was learning about in my quiet times. But I began to get nervous about sharing because I felt unequipped; I wasn’t sure I knew enough theologically. This fear led me to get my master’s degree in theology, which is where my obsession with inductive Bible study began. I started to create resources for women to both learn how to study the Bible and also lead others in Bible study. This eventually led me to write my book and Bible study that came out this year (September 2024), both named after my ministry, Chasing Sacred.

My passion for biblical literacy, combined with my passion to see the body of Christ actually experience the life-changing work of Jesus Christ, is what led me to become a Bible teacher. In my book, “Chasing Sacred: Learn How to Study Scripture to Pursue God and Find Hope in Him, and my Chasing Sacred Bible Study: A Five-Week Journey through Colossians and Philemon,” I talk about my own personal life experiences as a missionary kid in Thailand and weave in how to study the Bible using the inductive Bible study method. We get deep, and we treat our readers as intelligent. I don’t shy away from big terms, and I give practical advice and lots of examples, but I also employ creative storytelling.

I now get to write, speak and share about the Bible. I continue to run my ministry and create biblical resources that both engage believers emotionally and are also biblically sound.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

I often sense God’s presence right before bed. I like to reflect on my day, and in the past, I’ve used the Daily Examen — a practice from St. Ignatius Loyola — as part of this reflection. This involves thinking through when I felt closest to God and how I might recreate those moments and become more aware of him the next day. I also think about times of joy and moments when I felt distant from God. During this time, I give thanks for the good things in my day.

Additionally, I connect with my husband. We discuss our feelings, share affirmations, address needs and end with repentance. It is a nightly, lifesaving ritual. These two habits help me connect with both my husband and God as I prepare to drift off to sleep. I have really been exploring how to feel more connected to God and those I love during the day, and these two practices have helped me immensely.

I find that in the quiet of the night after my husband has fallen asleep, I often hear from God. Perhaps it’s the calm expanse around me or the way the darkness dulls my senses, but it’s often in these moments that I hear God most clearly. It’s during these times that new ideas come to me, and I feel a sense of direct counsel. David must have felt the same way, as he wrote, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Ps. 16:7-8, ESV).

This is not a new thing for me. Even as a child, I would keep my notebook next to me and feverishly scrawl illegible things on scrap paper after everyone else had fallen asleep. In the morning, I would wake up and see all of last night’s epiphanies. Nighttime always seems to be when I feel closest to hearing and listening to what God has to say to me.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you right now?

I love praying with words others have crafted. As someone who has often struggled to maintain a vibrant prayer life, I frequently turn to liturgies and written prayers. These offer me comfort during times of stress, overwhelm or deeply painful seasons. Not having to labor or toil to find the right words in seasons of grief has been a gift I have given myself. Some mornings, when I was struggling the most with a desire to pray, read or be with God, I would just groan the words of Scripture.

My mom introduced me to this method. She passed down a prayer book filled with Scriptures for our family and friends that she had collected over the years. Each passage includes spaces to insert names, allowing me to pray specifically for my children, closest friends and husband. I find great comfort in knowing that my prayers align with God’s will because they are rooted in his Word. Each morning, often around 5:30 a.m., sitting on my weathered blue couch, I make a cup of coffee and pray these verses for the people I care about, repeating their names within the Scripture passages. Sometimes I send off a text with their names in the Scripture passages to encourage them so they know I am interceding on their behalf. This practice feels like a tradition that my mom has handed down to me and that I now get to participate in as well. Here is an example:

In times of trouble, may the Lord answer ______ . May the name of the God of Jacob keep ______ safe from all harm. May he send ______ help from his sanctuary  and strengthen ______ from Jerusalem. May he remember all ______ gifts  and look favorably on ______ burnt offerings. May he grant ______ heart’s desires  and make all ______ plans succeed (from Ps. 20:1-4).

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed the game and changed your heart? What radically altered your life? What changed your reality?

So many incredible writers, thinkers and podcasters have influenced me. I will always remember when, as a college student, I opened up Henri Nouwen’s work “Life of the Beloved.” It was the moment I realized I needed to pivot from producing for God to my production coming out of my dwelling in the love of God. It spoke to me in so many ways, and his other work has been similarly impactful in my life — reminding me to be quiet in his love.

Another writer I love is Ronald Rolheiser, especially in his book “Domestic Monastery.” This little but mighty book changed the way I thought of motherhood. It put new breath, rhythm and purpose into my motherhood. As a mom of five little kids, motherhood has often felt relentless and never-ending. How could the constant needs and demands of the day change me to become more contemplative and sanctified? Ronald Rolheiser eloquently advocates for the way that motherhood changes us to be more like Christ. He points out that the relentless needs placed upon a mother bring a certain change of character to embody selflessness and generosity. The sharpening of motherhood results in growth in patience and changes one to become more like Christ.

Thirdly, I have been greatly influenced by John Mark Comer, Peter Scazzero, Katherine Wolf, Curt Thompson and Brené Brown. I love reading about the intersection of faith and suffering or the mind/mental health and suffering.

We all have things we cling to to survive (or even thrive) in tough times — times like these! Name one resource you’re savoring and/or finding indispensable in this current season, and tell us what it’s doing for you.

Every morning, I use an edition of “Every Moment Holy” by Douglas McKelvey. These liturgies have been a source of tenderness to me during difficult times, provided grounding and offered me words when I found myself at a loss for them. They helped me through a particularly hard season, a balm of comfort before I started my frenetic days. The liturgies have kept my eyes upward and helped me create a daily rhythm to beckon God into my hardest moments — and all the mundane moments as well.

In the early morning hours, with my hot cup of coffee and a little bit of cream, I always make sure to start or end my quiet time with a liturgy. Liturgies remind me that I am not a solitary traveler on this journey of faith but am part of a greater landscape of spiritual writers and thinkers. These liturgies reassure me that I am not navigating this vast terrain alone; rather, I am part of a community united in worship, lifting up our voices together to declare God’s truths like a resistance act. Through our shared liturgies, we come together to seek and understand God, deepening our connection with the invisible body of believers that have gone before me.

QUESTION #8: dream

God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

Currently, I am in a season in which I keep asking myself this question from Scripture, “What do you really want?” (see Mark 10:51-52). I am in the middle of trying to discern what is next for me.

Recently, what has ignited my heart and piqued my interest has been studying the intersection of faith, counseling, neuroscience and theology. I have written for the last seven years on how to study the Bible, theology and biblical literacy — and yet, in my personal life, I’ve gone through a lot that I have had to actively seek healing from. So right now, I’m looking toward more projects and writing that mirrors or shines a light on the inner work God has done in my life — the stories he has unfolded in my relationships and all that he has taught me about healing from trauma through a biblical lens.

I find myself fascinated by how we communicate with each other, how communities intersect and how we as believers can find true intimacy with Christ and others. I will continue writing for Chasing Sacred and creating products. I would also love to start a podcast soon and host a yearly conference. But for now, I am taking time to just listen, discern and lean in.

One of the most inspiring passages of Scripture is found in Hebrews 12:1, which says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (ESV).

What a beautiful thought. We are constantly surrounded by a “cloud of witnesses” — that is, the people of faith who have lived and died before us — as we run this spiritual race. It takes me back to what Mikella said earlier in her interview: “Liturgies remind me that I am not a solitary traveler on this journey of faith but am part of a greater landscape of spiritual writers and thinkers.”

Take a moment to think of a believer or two who have gone before you and impacted your walk with Christ. Maybe you knew them personally. Maybe you only read their writing centuries after their death. Either way, take a moment to thank God for the ways they’ve encouraged and helped you.