The clock had just ticked past 2am when I heard a little voice yelling, “Mommy!” As I stumbled out of bed and up to my son’s room, I found him sitting outside his door crying. He’d had a bad nightmare and Mommy was the only comfort he wanted.
To whom do you run when you’re scared?
Who are the people you call first when you’re facing the tough moments in life, the big decisions, the changes and trials? Your mom, dad, spouse, best friend? What makes them the first ones you want near when times are tough?
For my son, it’s the closeness he feels with me. I was the first person he knew intimately. All those hours holding, feeding, rocking him as a baby. How many hours do we spend just staring at the faces of our babies, creating those indescribable bonds so we innately know each others’ looks, touch, sound and smell?
There’s a limit, though, to how much any of these dear people in our lives can be present or capable enough to be our guide and comforter. As much as I may want to be there to comfort every boo boo, provide counsel for every decision, and guide him through life’s storms, I know I can’t always be there for him.
The good news is we have a Heavenly Father who’s always by our side and is infinitely capable to handle any crisis.
What if we cultivated such a relationship with Him? Got to know Him so well we could recognize His voice, His smell, His touch, His sight? Just as a new mother bonds with her baby through the nearness, so we also need to spend time with God so He’s the one we run to when we’re in need.
The Bible is one way to get to know God and develop that trusting relationship. Through the pages of His story, we learn who God is, what His promises to us are and we see time and again how faithful He is to those who love and follow Him.
We get to know His son, Jesus Christ, and walk beside him through his ministry. We see how Jesus is the fulfillment of promises God made centuries earlier. We can study the lessons Jesus taught and see how completely God loves us. Through Jesus, we learn about God’s grace and forgiveness.
Finally, we also learn about the Holy Spirit, the great counselor who lives within each of us. God’s gift that even though we may not have Jesus in the flesh here with us, we do have the Spirit to lead and guide us.
Relationships are built on deep knowledge of each other. The Bible is our way to learn God’s story.
The people on your ‘go-to’ list are ones with whom you’ve developed deep relationships. You know their back stories, their childhood experiences, their joys and trials, their hopes and fears. You’ve gone deep with each other. The Bible is our way to go deep with God, to learn His story, His hopes and dreams for us, His frustrations with our sins, His mighty power.
When I spend time studying the Bible, I get to know God. I learn something about Him every time I open the pages of my Bible, even if I’m reading a passage I’ve read before. There’s always more to learn!
By developing this relationship, God becomes the one to whom I want to run when I need help. God is the one I want to lead me through change. God is the one I want to trust and rely on when times get tough.
[callout]Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Those things were written so that we could have hope. That hope comes from the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us. (Romans 15:4 ERV)[/callout]
For some ideas and resources to dig deeper into the Bible, check out these posts: 18 Resources for Digging Into the Bible and 6 Ways To Use Technology for Bible Study
[reminder preface=”Question: “]How does reading the Bible help build your relationship with God? How have you grown closer by getting to know God’s story?[/reminder]
[callout]This post is part of the “A Better Change” series. For more information on this series and to find related posts, click here: A Better Change Series – Overview[/callout]
Sharing with: Wednesday Prayer Girls, Coffee and Conversation, Coffee For Your Heart, SITS Sharefest, #GiveMeGrace, Titus 2 Tuesday
Learning God's Story Builds Relationship – Prayer & Possibilities
The clock had just ticked past 2am when I heard a little voice yelling, “Mommy!” As I stumbled out of bed and up to my son’s room, I found him sitting outside his door crying. He’d had a bad nightmare and Mommy was the only comfort he wanted.
To whom do you run when you’re scared?
Who are the people you call first when you’re facing the tough moments in life, the big decisions, the changes and trials? Your mom, dad, spouse, best friend? What makes them the first ones you want near when times are tough?
For my son, it’s the closeness he feels with me. I was the first person he knew intimately. All those hours holding, feeding, rocking him as a baby. How many hours do we spend just staring at the faces of our babies, creating those indescribable bonds so we innately know each others’ looks, touch, sound and smell?
There’s a limit, though, to how much any of these dear people in our lives can be present or capable enough to be our guide and comforter. As much as I may want to be there to comfort every boo boo, provide counsel for every decision, and guide him through life’s storms, I know I can’t always be there for him.
The good news is we have a Heavenly Father who’s always by our side and is infinitely capable to handle any crisis.
What if we cultivated such a relationship with Him? Got to know Him so well we could recognize His voice, His smell, His touch, His sight? Just as a new mother bonds with her baby through the nearness, so we also need to spend time with God so He’s the one we run to when we’re in need.
The Bible is one way to get to know God and develop that trusting relationship. Through the pages of His story, we learn who God is, what His promises to us are and we see time and again how faithful He is to those who love and follow Him.
We get to know His son, Jesus Christ, and walk beside him through his ministry. We see how Jesus is the fulfillment of promises God made centuries earlier. We can study the lessons Jesus taught and see how completely God loves us. Through Jesus, we learn about God’s grace and forgiveness.
Finally, we also learn about the Holy Spirit, the great counselor who lives within each of us. God’s gift that even though we may not have Jesus in the flesh here with us, we do have the Spirit to lead and guide us.
Relationships are built on deep knowledge of each other. The Bible is our way to learn God’s story.
The people on your ‘go-to’ list are ones with whom you’ve developed deep relationships. You know their back stories, their childhood experiences, their joys and trials, their hopes and fears. You’ve gone deep with each other. The Bible is our way to go deep with God, to learn His story, His hopes and dreams for us, His frustrations with our sins, His mighty power.
When I spend time studying the Bible, I get to know God. I learn something about Him every time I open the pages of my Bible, even if I’m reading a passage I’ve read before. There’s always more to learn!
By developing this relationship, God becomes the one to whom I want to run when I need help. God is the one I want to lead me through change. God is the one I want to trust and rely on when times get tough.
[callout]Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Those things were written so that we could have hope. That hope comes from the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us. (Romans 15:4 ERV)[/callout]
For some ideas and resources to dig deeper into the Bible, check out these posts: 18 Resources for Digging Into the Bible and 6 Ways To Use Technology for Bible Study
[reminder preface=”Question: “]How does reading the Bible help build your relationship with God? How have you grown closer by getting to know God’s story?[/reminder]
[callout]This post is part of the “A Better Change” series. For more information on this series and to find related posts, click here: A Better Change Series – Overview[/callout]
Sharing with: Wednesday Prayer Girls, Coffee and Conversation, Coffee For Your Heart, SITS Sharefest, #GiveMeGrace, Titus 2 Tuesday