“I didn’t think God should say that.” I remember the look on her face. The raw honesty of her words. Skipping truth because it entered a place of brokenness in her life.
The memory floods in as I ponder the importance of handling the Word of God rightly. With integrity. In study and proclamation.
Studying passages in context. In the whole counsel of Scripture. And together with other believers.
Seeking Truth
This woman on her way to believing faith was studying the Bible with our small group. Seeking the right path.
She’d tried different religions. For years. And was turned off by how religious beliefs played out in real life.
She experimented with atheism.
Then during an assignment in Karachi, she met some believers in her workplace. And started coming to our Friday worship services.
She saw authentic faith and love that differed from the other roads she’d tried.
She was drawn to Jesus, and the light of the gospel.
Skipping Truth
One night at the Bible study, she took her turn reading the Scripture passage.
She began. Then skipped a portion of a verse.
The study facilitator asked her to read it again. “You missed part of it.”
“Oh. I marked that part out. I didn’t think God should say that.”
Uncomfortable Truth
Our friend was drawn to the person of Jesus Christ. But this study of His teachings in the Gospels caught her off guard. He was saying things that made her uncomfortable.
So she just used her pen to mark those parts out. I saw the scribbles in her Bible.
We talked about the passage.
Laughed at how that’s often our reaction to truth. When it treads on our toes.
We urged her to keep asking. He would reveal His way.
And He did. In His time.
Subtle editing of the Truth
Those scribbles in her Bible reminded me of my own journey. To trust God at His Word.
My edits weren’t quite so literal.
I didn’t take a pen and mark out portions of Scripture. I was more subtle than that.
If something made me uncomfortable or didn’t fit what I thought God should say, I just didn’t go there.
Or I dwelled on the passages that spoke my language. Fit my understanding.
It was a box of my own making. Confining. Formed in a gradual drift toward personal opinion.
God’s Word is true
The turning point was a conversation with a sister from Malaysia.
As we studied hard sections of the Old Testament, some were questioning the infallibility of the passages. I felt the doubt. Sitting on the edge of my own thoughts.
Our Malaysian sister described her personal journey. How she’d questioned portions of the Bible.
Then one day during a sermon, she came under conviction. That God’s Word is true. All of it.
She said that if we start picking and choosing what we think should be in the Scriptures, we’ve quit focusing on the One who’s put it together.
Trusting in our own intellect and opinion instead of His sovereignty.
Yes, we study hard. Ask questions. And acknowledge what we don’t understand.
But in the end we draw near to Him and place it at His feet.
He’s got this
We can’t edit what God chooses to say. We can’t skip over it.
We walk by faith in the omniscient, the omnipresent, the omnipotent Lord of the universe. And trust His Word.
He’s got this.
What about you?
Have you ever struggled to accept that God has preserved the Old and New Testaments for our good and His glory? How has He taught you on this journey?
related posts
Disregard for Truth – Open to His Word – Mystery revealed – The international fellowship at Swiss Villa – Wells along the way – Shouts and whispers – My soul magnifies the Lord – The mystery of the gospel – Abiding with little and much –
5 replies on “Skipping Truth”
Well said, Susan! I like that we keep focusing on the One who gave the word and trust his word is true even if hard to understand and obey. He gives understanding and grace and power to obey. Thank you.
Thanks, Jennie. Yes, He does!
I’ve always had a hard time with harshness in the OT, but someone once said to me that there was so much grace that God gave the Assyrians–so many years He gave them to turn. It put a new slant on those stories. Some are still very harsh, but I think without the OT, we don’t see all of God’s promises, His judgment, His jealousy for us. It’s essential.
Even the parts about dashing babies on the rocks in Psalms. Psalms helps me understand that it’s okay to say whatever I’m feeling to God. He wants to hear it and it helps me get out my frustrations and anger and start to see it from His point of view.
I do understand what you mean about dwelling on what I love. I’ve definitely read Psalms more than I’ve read Leviticus!! But all of it is important!
Not sure I would’ve survived some hard days and years without the Psalms! Thanks for sharing, Jul.
Love the lessons from our friends! Thanks Suz!