What We Really Need: Finding and Giving Hope Beyond Bible Quotes

A few days ago a friend confessed that his friend’s efforts in encouragement were appreciated, but were also falling short of what he really needed and desired.  His friend was texting scriptures daily, which is a great thing, but can feel hollow if it’s the only thing.

This friend of mine longs for mentorship and comradery and to know that someone is thinking about him and cares for him.  This can definitely be supported with scripture, but should not be replaced by it.

I know that scripture is powerful and that my friend was grateful, but I also understood what he meant.  He craves relationship over religion, as does God.

I have another well-meaning acquaintance that posts nothing but Bible verses everyday on his Facebook page.  While there is nothing wrong with this, it just begins to grow old and I tend to overlook it.

I would expect to see only Bible verses from a daily devotion page, not an individual who I know has family, friends and other things going on in life.  Without this balance of relationship, his page appears cold, as if computer generated or like a mask to hide behind.

Even with good intentions, I think we can seem the same way when we give bumper sticker answers to complex issues for those who are struggling.  When we say things like, “Just Pray”, “Everything happens for a reason” or “Just have faith”, it can come across as minimizing and even create a disconnect.

I believe the same thing can happen if we look at the Bible as the answer instead of a means to the answer.  It is the living, breathing word of God, but it is not God Himself.

Pastor and author A.W. Tozer wrote:

For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself; and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience, they are not the better for having heard the truth.  The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their being, their spirit.

I used to be very involved in recovery ministry and would see people start to mistake meetings for God, as if there was magic in their attendance rather than power in their God.  People can do this with church, too.

Yes, God wants us to gather with other Believers, but He doesn’t want us to forget Him in the process.  We can get so busy doing for God that we forsake being with God.  We are not just workers for God, but children of God.  Don’t mistake duty for identity.

The first Christian company my husband and I ever worked for was such a breath of fresh air.  It was so nice to find something in the corporate world that valued family and God and we were excited to get to help people while earning a living.  Unfortunately we later began to see the size of our paychecks as God’s approval of our work, so when it would decrease we would work harder and when it finally came to an end, we felt like we had failed.

We have done the same thing in our personal lives where we have taken blessings as God’s favor and trials as God’s punishment.  We have allowed our circumstances to interfere with our view of God and felt abandoned or even attacked.

When we tie our relationship and value to anything other than God’s character and who we are in Him, we will allow ourselves to be yanked around like a yo-yo and soon doubt God’s goodness and our ability to please Him.  He loves us because of who we are, not because of what we do.

He desires our hearts and love and wants us to read His word because we will learn the truth of who we are and all He has promised for us, but never think for a second that’s all He wants.  I am in no way minimizing the importance of the Bible, because it is the number one source of Truth and how we can hear from God.  Even A.W. Tozer says,

Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be.

Remember that God is a parent who loves His children; He has given written instructions, warnings and messages of encouragement through the Good Book, but they shouldn’t replace a real and active relationship with the Author.

When my kids were away in college, I sent them gifts, texts and provided for them financially.  I prayed for them often and wanted the best for them, but I also wanted to maintain my relationship with them.  I wanted them to text back, think about me too, thank me for what I was doing for them, come home to visit, tell me all about their new friends and even their struggles.  I wanted to laugh with them and cry with them and just be a part of their lives even though they were older and farther away.  Just because I wasn’t with them physically, didn’t mean I no longer existed or desired acknowledgement and engagement.  I wonder if God ever feels the same about us?

 

Two Ways to Hear from God

This may sound harsh, but there are certain people in my life that if I never saw again, I’d be fine.  I don’t mean that they don’t have value or even that I don’t like them, but our relationship just isn’t significant enough to make an impact on my life.

There is little expectation regarding the obligations to an acquaintance or possibly a co-worker, but that changes when they become a friend, mentor or family member.  It jumps to an even higher level if a person becomes your spouse.

Let’s switch gears for a minute to food.  Do you like appetizers?

I love appetizers, especially chips and salsa.  I live in Texas and Mexican food is one of my favorites, but I have to be careful.

Appetizers are meant to whet our appetite for the main course.  They are supposed to lead up to the main course, but if we aren’t careful they can spoil the meal because we get full before our entrée ever arrives.

This isn’t a big deal if it happens once in a while, but over time of getting full on the unhealthy appetizers we can become deficient because our hunger is being satisfied without the nutritional benefits that our bodies need.

We can do this in other areas of our life and become spiritually malnourished, as well.

If we fill up on Christian music or movies, YouTube sermons, catchy quotes of wisdom, support groups, the beliefs of others or even our pastor’s message and fool ourselves into thinking they are the same as an entrée of God, we are fooling ourselves.

None of the things I mentioned are bad, but none of them are God.  There is no substitute for a personal relationship with Jesus.

Maybe a Christian song or someone else’s testimony made you want to learn more or attend church for the first time, and that is great!  However, once you become a Christ follower and build a deeper relationship with God from acquaintance to friend, deeper communication is required.

The evolution from stranger to spouse is easy to see because the changes are external such as increased time spent together, getting to know and trust each other more, the proposal and ring, to eventually professing your love publically through ceremony and moving in together.  It doesn’t stop there, though.  Over the years, experiences will either draw you closer together or farther apart, depending on your level of communication, willingness to work on things, ability to forgive, etc.

It’s no different with God.  The music and messages will only get you so far.  Prayer and reading the Bible is where the real communication takes place.

Would your spouse be satisfied with you singing songs about him or her?  Would they be as content with you hearing about them as they would be with you speaking to them?  Why should God be?

He has done more than a spouse ever will or can.  He created us.  He sent His son to die for us.  He never stops loving us.

If we aren’t praying, then we aren’t speaking to Him.  How can we get to know someone we don’t talk to?

Since God speaks in a still, small voice, how will we hear Him if we never create the quiet time to do so?

Part of seeking and finding Him is done through reading His Word.  If we don’t ask questions and seek answers, how can we expect to grow?

God’s Word is Truth and is living and breathing, which means that it’s not just words in a book that we don’t understand.  Something happens when we pray and read that we will never understand.

If you have never read the book of Joshua about the conquering of the city of Jericho, the summary is that it was a fortified kingdom with high walls and God commanded a small army to march around it a certain number of times over so many days and then blow their trumpets in a specific way and shout.  When promised, the walls fell down.

This seems odd and doesn’t make sense.  How do walls just fall?  Why did they have to march when God could have just caused the walls to fall as they initially approached the city?

There are a million questions we could ask, but one thing we know is that marching and trumpets have nothing to do with demolition.  However, having faith, trusting God even when we don’t understand and obeying even when it feels foolish can allow God’s power to defeat anything that sets itself up against His will in our lives.

It’s great to worship God through song, enjoy a movie with a heavenly message and to attend church every week, but don’t allow these appetizers to rob you of an intimate relationship with the God who wants to spend quality time with you.

Although you may not understand the power of prayer and the Bible, I guarantee you that Satan does and he wants you to have no interest or time for either.

Evangelist and author Oswald Chambers reminds us that, “The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship.  That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.”

You don’t have to know how to pray, just start telling God how you feel and asking Him for what you need.  You don’t have to understand everything the Bible says, just read it and let God interpret it in His timing.

If you get distracted in prayer, start writing them down or speaking them out loud so that your mind can’t wander.  If you don’t know where to start in the Bible, join a study or buy a one year Bible that has your daily readings mapped out.  Whatever you do, start today and never stop because this is about relationship and not rituals.  There is no checklist in marriage and as the bride of Christ; we need to willfully work on our relationship every day.

We don’t take a break from communicating with our spouses and we don’t put off eating for months at a time, so it should be the same with God.

Jesus Himself said:

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Taste and see that He is good!