if i could only choose one scriptural truth to summarize what this past week (has it really only been that long!?) has looked like, it would be Romans 15:4. the scriptures have indeed been teaching. and giving hope. and breeding encouragement. did i mention, i'm patiently waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled?
in light of a conversation we had last night, i feel like this verse is furthermore affirmation of the validity, truth, and promise of God's word. just to come to it in the midst of a study i began today on Esther (thank you @sessystina for recommending it and encouraging me to do it via distance learning with you girls back home), and to really know that regardless of divisive issues of inerrancy, divine inspiration, or qualms over textual attribution-- what is at the heart of the matter is that this book is truly littered with truth. read over the past week of entries and try to argue that the scriptures have not been teaching me. that they have not generated hope, or gave new life to encouragement in my heart. i'm overwhelmed by not only what this scripture means alone, in its entirety; but by how mightily it serves as affirmation for what i've already known and have come to realize through this time of grief and openness to the Lord.
scripture cannot come without effect to the receptive soul. God is up to something profound in your life or you wouldn't be holding this Bible study in your hands. He not only desires to teach you but to transform you. His Word is living, healing, restoring, enlightening, direction, and empowering. it invades every part of our lives if we'll let it. --Beth Moore, Esther
i want that to serve as encouragement to him; and i want my life to be a testament of living proof to how His word heals. restores. enlightens. guides. empowers. in the past week alone, i've witnessed the amazing transformation in my own life as the Lord uses His word to heal/restore/enlighten/guide/empower me. i hope that my blog bears strong witness to that. this is by no means about me. i want everything i'm experiencing, every inch i grow, to glorify Him.
when we trust our lives to the hand and pen of an unseen but ever-present God, He will write our lives into His story and every last one of the will turn out to be a good read. with a great ending. and not just in spite of those catastrophes. often because of them. dont' just wait and see. live and see.
in my education classes, we learned that the best way to pass on knowledge to a student is to make it relevant and meaningful to their schema. deliver not only in language they can understand, but in a way that becomes applicable to them. beginning this particular bible study at this particular time in my life is nothing short of divine. God is able to meet me exactly where i am with exactly what i need to hear. this is made relevant and meaningful; i will be able to apply what i'm learning.
what better way to learn than from the master Teacher Himself.
***
i am so excited to get started on this study. no lie: the first few pages of history had me frustratedly re-reading passages for third and forth times because i can not, for some unknown reason, absorb historical information. i reluctantly persevered and found myself in the midst of a story where truth and encouragement highlighted my story of grief. this study of esther opens with words that, in their hebrew form, "introduce impending catastrophe or doom." frantically scribbling in the margins and underlining nuggets of truth, i was already enthralled by how poignant the text of the introductory lesson was. has a negative event or a near-eternal wait // recently made you lose hope about something important to you? do you have any natural reasons to think that whatever you "once upon a time" might have been, it can never be now? i feel like this passage was written just for me in this very painful time! each emboldened phrase (emphasis, my own) was like a shot of lidocaine to each of my appendages, until i was numb enough to soak it all in.
i'll admit: i'm not really a habit sort of person; even good habits. it's easy for me to get on a kick for a week or two with something, but after that, i get bored or something else for me to become obsessed with comes up. in spite of that, i hope to continue through with the study, all 9 weeks of it!
please be praying for continued growth, encouragement, and strength, on behalf of the Lord, and for both of us. we're barely at the base of mt. fuji with our equipment and dressed the part. but the journey has just begun, and its bound to get rocky; impassable at times. please pray for our perseverance, along with the persistence and conviction of the Lord to remain obedient in seeking Him. pray for the Holy Spirit to revive us on days we become apathetic, and reveal Himself to us on days we seek motivation.
in Him, we will reach summit.
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