All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
My dad was once quite sick with a nasty bout of bronchitis. He went to the emergency room where the physician prescribed antibiotics along with a couple of other medications designed to fight infection and restore his breathing. A few days passed and there was simply no improvement. He continued to have great difficulty doing anything but coughing. What could be wrong? We saw the doctor. We got the prescriptions filled. Why did he continue to be sick?
The answer is really quite simple. Yes, we saw the doctor. Yes, we got the prescriptions filled. However, we learned an amazing thing. Medicine does not make you feel better when it sits unopened on a bathroom counter.
You see, when we filled the prescriptions, the pharmacy put the medicines in two bags. One bag got opened and the medicine was taken. The other bottles sat unopened on the bathroom counter. No matter how powerful those drugs were, no matter how much of a super pill it might have been, it would do my dad absolutely no good until he opened the bottle, swallowed the pills and let the medicine do what it was designed to do.
Sort of like your Bible, huh?
The Word of God is powerful. It is a love letter from the One who would rather die than live without us. It is our roadmap to Heaven, and the guide on how to survive the difficulties well face until we get there. Within its pages are true, mind-blowing accounts of infertile couples who finally received the long-sought gift of babies, of heart-broken parents who actually survived the death of their children. There are promises of peace, sweet sleep and healing. The truths of the Bible sound phenomenal. So why doesnt the Bible work for you?
The Bible will not work if it sits untouched like the medicine in my dads bathroom. You can go to church--just like we went to the doctor. You can go to the bookstore and buy Bibles in every version--just like we got all the prescriptions filled. However, until you ingest that precious Word, take it inside of you and it becomes a living part of you, the words on its pages will do you no good. An unopened Bible is just like an unopened bottle of medicine.
Oh, but friend, the power contained in those words when you truly begin to take God at His word! The Word of God is so much more powerful than antibiotics, steroids or any other substance on earth. It is inspired by the God of the universe and written down for you! It will correct you when you err. It will even judge the attitudes of your heart. Thats a little scary when infertility causes us to resent others when she conceives instead of you. Thats when you turn to the Bible to teach you how to deal with your anger and not let it sit in your heart and fester. There is simply no problem you will face--not even infertility--that the Bible cannot help you with.
But you have to do more than let it sit on a shelf, or carry it around. You have to dive in. You have to believe its truth and its power. And oh, what power it holds!
Eventually, we realized my dad hadnt been taking the prescribed medicine. When he took the medicine, it did the job it was supposed to do and he got better. Fortunately, the medicine worked.
Fortunately, the Bible works too!
-Beth Forbus
I guess we'll wait with you (maybe it'll distract all of us from our own full TWW).
!
