You read the Bible. Study the Bible. Even have portions of it memorized.

But what happens when real life seems to drown out what it says? Or when the words seem stale?

I confess I’m a Bible-believing Christian. I’ve rested on truths in the Word for years. Yet—as much as I hate to admit it—I can still wrestle with the simplest precepts when I’m faced with the unknown.

Like this spring and summer. When the opportunity came to return to El Salvador, I knew I wanted to go. And when a volunteer was needed to head up the VBS team, I knew it should be me. I prayed about it; God confirmed it; I signed up.

So what was the problem? The obstacles loomed too large—we lacked enough Spanish-speakers; we lacked enough adult helpers; we lacked enough people, period.

Yet the real problem?
I was doubting God’s goodness.

I knew He loved me enough to die for me, to make me whole, to save my soul. But did He love me enough to actively work a VBS with me in Central America?

Maybe it’s not logical, but I wanted to know more than I was forgiven or justified or sanctified. I needed to know I was cared about like a little girl by her father.

Doubts withstanding, I wrote skits. I ordered stickers. I bought jump ropes. Pray, plan, and press on.

Then something happened.

For months I’d been working on Psalm 103. “Bless the Lord, O my soul…” For months I’d wrestled with getting the words right. For months I’d wondered if I’d ever get the last verses in order.

But exactly one week before my mission trip, instead of working the Psalm, I surrendered to it. I made a counterintuitive move—instead of forging ahead with much-needed packing for VBS, for one day I’d pack nothing, speak nothing, do nothing but sit with God. And Psalm 103.

And there he uncovered the missing piece I’d been looking at all along—a scripture I’d read ninety-nine times, but needed to read a hundredth.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
Psalm 103:13

The words “shows compassion” communicated boldly.

If I could spend months and dollars and emotions on plans to show compassion to kids I didn’t even know, how much more would my Father show compassion to me, a child He did know, and know intimately?

Not only would He go with me to El Salvador, but He also had been planning for months, setting up gifts of grace for me to receive there, gifts of His tender compassion for a daughter He loved.

With one verse, in one day, old words I’d underlined three Bibles ago were made new again, breathing fresh life into the empty crevices of my soul.

His Words never die because He continues to speak them.

Never give up reading what you think you already know. Because they’re not just words on a page; they’re the heart of a Savior. They’re more than scriptures to sharpen a doctrine; they’re love letters from a Father. For child after child, year after year.

And was God compassionate to me in El Salvador? Oh my, yes. In ways a little girl couldn’t have imagined.

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:11

Reading the Bible isn’t just about gaining knowledge. It’s about the Spirit changing our lives.
What old words have touched you in a new way lately?
How have you experienced the Word as still alive?
Please join in the conversation.

We all wait for something.

We wait for phone calls. We wait for friends. We wait for jobs, for answers, for hope fulfilled.

Sometimes we wait years for an answer to a prayer or a new path to take. Sometimes waiting might mean only a few hours for test results, but it’s a life-halting wait.

In my family’s own (current) waiting, waiting for so long without foreseeable results causes me to feel helpless. Helpless and unable to affect a situation positively. How do we endure this waiting?

God speaks to this struggle, too. He shares in His Word wisdom on waiting.

What To Do While We Wait

• Watch for wisdom while we wait: “Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
• Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.” – Proverbs 8:33-34
• Wait on God, even when trouble presses in: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!” – Psalm 37:7
• “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” – Psalm 27:14
• Wait, knowing God will answer, even if it’s not in the way we may have thought: “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” – Psalm 5:3 (NIV)
• “But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.” – Psalm 38:15
• Even while we wait, rejoice in our loving God: “…yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” – Habakkuk 3:18 (Read Habakkuk 3:16-19)
• “…live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope…” – Titus 2:12b-13a (Read Titus 2:11-14. Read also Jude 1:20-21.)

Why to Trust While We Wait

• Christ suffered for us all, and offers salvation which we can look forward to during our waiting: “…so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” – Hebrews 9:28
• “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” – James 5:7-8

 

What verses encourage you while you wait for needs or answers? How do you use God’s Word to help others in their wait-filled struggles?