This learning takes time and patience, but is so worthwhile. Gaining confidence in reading the Bible is something that often needs to be learned.
In doing life and engaging with people who openly struggled with opening their Bibles and yet had a heart for God, I discovered the intrinsic need for all people to be able to approach their Bibles with confidence and capability. How guilty am I of wanting to control outcomes and even the day-in and day-out of my life? How many times have I actually said, “I’ve done everything I can do, now I’ll just pray.” What if I started with prayer and then did whatever needed to be done? What if I started with the Word and followed with action? Perhaps it’s for the exact same reason that we sometimes lean into our own human ability to control rather than allowing the Spirit to lead and guide us. Growing in faith and time in the Word are synonymous and yet why is it that we often find ourselves doing anything and everything but diving into our Bibles? This tension led me to ponder the question, “How can you grow in your faith if you mistrust or misunderstand the Bible and consequently do not spend time studying it?” I think this question is one that applies to most Christ-followers, whether brand new to the faith or decades in and possibly finding yourself stagnant. As a small group and women’s ministry leader I met so many women who had a deep desire to grow in their relationship with Jesus and yet struggled to understand or trust the Word of God. In their experience, the Bible had been used as a tool to manipulate, control and confuse. During my three years of ministry in Utah, I was introduced to a whole group of people who had a deep misunderstanding and mistrust for the Bible.
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