This post was first published in October of 2021 on the Living with Less Blog Loving God’s Word series.
I remember the moment very clearly. I was driving home from our new business feeling so defeated. Our tax guy had just given us the bad news: We would have to pay $20K in taxes. It might as well have been $1M!
As tears streamed down my face, I recounted all of my failures since we started the business. I had left a career I enjoyed to become a stay-at-home mom and help my husband get the shop off the ground. I discovered I wasn’t a natural homemaker, I didn’t enjoy cooking (and my family didn’t enjoy it, either), I wasn’t gifted at nurturing (I’m more of a “rub some dirt in it” kind of mom), and now I had failed at the business finances. All of my dreams for this transition seemed to be turning to ashes. I remember saying out loud, “Lord, I’m done. I can’t do this on my own. I need help!”
Because I had grown up in a pastor’s home, I knew the Bible. I could win the Bible Trivia games and the sword drills. But when I faced crises in my life, I turned to my dad. My dad was a very godly man, and he gave me great advice, but I should’ve been turning to God’s Word. I think this is a hazard many PKs face. This time, I didn’t have that choice. My dad had started showing signs of Alzheimer’s and could no longer fill that role in my life.
I couldn’t expect God to speak to me if I wasn’t spending time in His Word and speaking to Him through prayer. So I began to read my Bible. I got involved in Bible-reading plans, Bible studies, and conferences. And I found that, as cliché as it might sound, the more time I spent in God’s Word, the more time I wanted to spend in God’s Word. As the Holy Spirit revealed things to me in the Scriptures that I had never really grasped, I began to fall in love with my Bible.
Just to be clear, not every time I sat down to read did I have a hallelujah moment—sometimes those genealogies are hard to get through—but as the knowledge compounded, and as I sought the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, that knowledge shifted to wisdom and discernment. I started to recognize false teachings. I became sensitive to the struggles of those around me. And I became more and more content in my life.
My circumstances didn’t change: I still was not a natural homemaker, my family still didn’t like my cooking, and we hired a new accountant in our business to handle the finances. But I had changed. God’s Word changed me! Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Because the Bible is “living and active,” we can trust that it can change us and grow us.
Since those days, I have gone beyond using other people’s studies to studying God’s Word for myself. I took bits and pieces from everything I had learned throughout the years, and developed my own Bible study process. It takes time, and it takes effort, but the reward is so worth it. Psalm 14:2 and 52:3 say, “The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” I want to be seeking after Him when He looks down from heaven!
Because I have fallen in love with the Word, I want to share it with others. I have created a free workbook that outlines my study process. It is a unique process in that you always start at step 1, but you only go as far as you want to go or as your current season of life allows. You can download your copy of the workbook here. And I can’t wait to see what God does in your life through His Word!
0 Comments