Have you ever been in a hard place and felt distanced from God?
I sure have!
Several years ago, Joe and I were walking through a really tough time in ministry. On the outside things looked good. Our ministry was growing. Our kids were doing well and even our marriage was strong. But there was a different story that was being written alongside this in which we were struggling. The church leadership we were under wasn’t healthy and it was wreaking havoc on us. Throughout the many years we’ve been in ministry, this has often been the most difficult thing for me to process in my faith. I have struggle to believe that God is good even in the hurt, especially when the hurt is coming from within the church. During times like this my emotions have driven what I believe about God and they have led to doubt and discouragement. But the truth is, it’s not that God isn’t good, I now know it’s been the way I have viewed God.
This week as I’ve been digging into Jen Wilkin’s book Women of the Word, I have been reminded of so much truth. Though I have studied the Bible for many years there have been times that I have struggled to understand it.
For several years, I went to the Bible to meet my needs. You could say I viewed it as a medicine cabinet full of remedies. If I was tired or weary, I looked for it to give me strength. When I was hurting, I longed for it to heal my wounds. And although it does provide these things, this isn’t its primary purpose. Rather it’s meant to teach us about who God is as it tells his story. And just as we wouldn’t go to a biography looking for it to tell us more about ourselves, neither should we do this with the Bible.
I love to read and am continuously changed by the books that I read. Yet, I must pay attention to the plot or I will miss what it’s about and not understand it. So, it is with the Bible too.
But how do we do this?
If you’ve ever scanned a religious section at a local bookstore or googled ways to study the Bible, you’ll find that there are plethora of methods out there. When I first began studying it there was a simple method Joe taught me and that is to talk to your Bible and ask it questions like - What does this text tell me about God? This simple question shifts our focus from ourselves and onto the character of God. Wilkin says it like this, “Perhaps you have gotten things backwards like me. Perhaps you’ve realized the ill-fitting discomfort of Bible study that focuses on who you are and what you should do more than on who God is, or of Bible study that targets your emotions more than your intellect. It’s not too late…”
That last line - It’s not too late is critical in our faith because the minute we assume we’ve missed our opportunity to grow, we forgo the opportunity that lies right in front of us to do something about it.
God’s word is his story and even though there are many layers to explore within it, the main purpose is for us to know God more and when this happens, we will become more like him.
I don’t know where you are in your walk with God or if you might be in a season of discouragement with your circumstances, but if this note today can encourage you in any way I pray it spurs you on to crack open God’s story and let him teach you. I am passionate about this because his story is the one that has changed mine. If you’d like to know more about what I’m reading and learning follow me here on instagram.
By the way what are you reading right now that is challenging you in your faith?
A few fun things to share from my month:
This past month I got to spend some time with our sweet grandson, Judah. Have I told you how much fun I am having being a grandparent? I couldn’t imagine the joy it could bring to our lives.
Also, I got to spend a week celebrating my sweet friend, Dotty. There’s something about friendship that is so sacred. Over the years, there were many times I could have shied away from community because of the fear of being hurt and the awkwardness of opening up with others. But what my younger self didn’t completely understand was the beauty, which lies beyond the risk to love. So, here’s to us two women with completely different lives finding friendship in the raw and sacred places of life.
Love this, Ruthann!