I’ve heard people say, “Just look to the Word. Everything you need to know is in the Bible.”
So I’d get confused about a big life question and then open my Bible to a story about how the Levites were commanded to camp around the Tabernacle.
Huh?
Not only do I not comprehend what that possibly means for me, there are at least 2 words in that sentence I don’t even understand.
Maybe, like me, you’ve wanted to use the Bible as a Magic 8 Ball, but a quick shake of the hand and a twist of the wrist never really did the trick.
I’ve come to realize that it’s not always the words I read that are meant to help me in life’s troubles; it’s the process of humbling myself enough to open the Bible and ask God what he thinks about my situation that provides a breakthrough.
That’s when God and I really started having some fun conversations.
For instance, I was having some questions about appropriate sexual content (don’t even ask, it was such an embarrassing question, I refused to even ask Google). So I opened my Bible and I found a passage from Romans 14:14. It was in a paragraph all about judging other people on what they eat, but one line stood out to me. “If someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong.”
It was at that moment I was convinced that if I was patient enough to really sit and read and talk to God, then I would indeed find the answers to everything I needed to know.
This morning I was sitting in my chair pondering life and worrying about the well-being of my almost teenage boys. I couldn’t find peace, so I opened the Good Book (that’s the Bible for you first-timers).
I began reading a story about the great faith of Abraham, how even when it looked like the odds were totally against him, he still believed God would follow through on His promises.
At first glance, the story seemed un-relatable. God, you made a specific promise to Abraham. What does this have to do with me?
Two words popped into my brain.
Trust. Me.
Abraham knew enough to trust God. That’s where his faith came from. That’s where our faith can come from too. We don’t have to know exactly how it will happen, but we can walk through our days and our worries knowing that God has promised He is with us and He is for us. And if He is for us, who could possibly be against us? When it comes to God versus anybody, God wins every time. I know that because I read the end of the Book.
So, would I like a Magic 8 Ball? Nah. I’ll stick with my Bible. It’s a sure thing.
