The "S" Word

In my home, when one of my grandkids runs to tell, “Ooh, he or she said the “S” word!” they are talking about “shut up”! When someone is angry or upset you might hear them say, “I’m not taking that “S”! And we all kind of know what they are referring too. I have a friend who lives in Toronto, Canada and when she posts on Facebook, “Oh no! I just heard the “S” word!” she is referring to a forecast for “snow”. Either way you slice it, when we hear someone use the letter “S” in context of the “S-word”, it is usually in the negative such as a cuss word, or something not good.

Today’s “S” word is…STUDY! As in “study” your Bible!

Now you might wonder why I put studying the Bible in a context as if it were something bad. Well, I did this because so many of us don’t “study” and when someone tries to encourage us to do so, we look at them as if they have just told us to “shut up” or cussed at us.

Want to test my theory? Just ask a couple of folks (who profess to be Believers) who God is to them? (But first, you have to make sure you know who the God of the Bible is yourself.) I guarantee you will walk away shaking your head. Why? Because there are way too many in the household of faith who only know God from what someone else has told them (be it right or wrong) or who they have made Him up to be in their own mind. (And that is usually not anything like who He really is.)

This is very common place among the Saints. In fact, you might be one who fits this description yourself.

Let’s take wisdom for instance. James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” But we can’t just read the New Testament if we truly want to know the God of the Bible. God’s wisdom is all through the Old Testament too, including the book of Proverbs.

I did a quick search on Bible Gateway just to see how many times the word “wisdom” is used in the NIV translation. OT…169, NT…50, grand total…219 times. And this is not counting the word, “wise”.

Sisters, many of us are living a mess of a life because we really do lack wisdom. Now before Christ in your life that is understandable, but after we come to the King, it doesn’t make much sense at all, yet it is a way of life for so many. Not exercising godly wisdom is deadly. And I just don’t mean in the physically sense either. Poor choices and bad decisions are robbers of our peace, joy and our testimony to others.

What about fear and anxiety? Paul admonishes us to not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God.

King David wrote…”When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”

God sent the prophet Isaiah to tell the nations, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” For those of you who are scared stiff about all that is going on in the world or maybe even your own neighborhood or town, we have Psalm 91 (click).

Some of us live in such a state of fear that we cannot face the things that lie before us or the mess we call our lives. We hide from the bill collectors; we stick our head in the sand when it comes to addressing situations that need to be handled. We sit back and wait on God to magically make it all better or just go away. This type of response is evidence that we don’t really know the God of the Bible or what Kingdom living is truly all about.

I recently had a conversation with a family member about my youngest daughter leaving this summer to teach 4^th grade in Honduras for 2 years. She was very excited for her, but then expressed how she would be worrying about her. My question was, “Why?” “She’s going to be so far away from home.” “Yes, but God will still be there to keep her as He has kept her here.” She started to laugh, “You’re right!” When the thought to worry immediately comes up like that, it’s a sign that’s an area we need to take a look at..

Fear stops us from facing our messy relationships, walking in love and reconciliation. We are afraid how others will respond if we try to make amends. We are afraid of what might happen if we let people back into our lives again. But since God says, “Fear not!” then that is what we are supposed to do. We need to be able to take things head on—even the part we played in creating the mess.

Last but not least, let’s look at our finances. Some of us are so bogged down in debt; we find it hard to breath each day. Student loan debt is the highest it has ever been before, and we have a generation of young people who are not free to serve God because of a lack of wisdom in accruing debt. We have a group of folks who are trying to hold on to lifestyles they should have let go of a long time ago. We are calming checks in the mail and supernatural erasure of debt. Where is the wisdom in this?

A few years ago I read the testimony of a woman who found herself consumed by debt from a bad marriage and poor financial decisions. She heard a minister talk about God’s wisdom and praying for His help in all matters in our lives. She had an "aha" moment and laid her debt before Him and asked how to get out of it. God’s answer was a part-time job (which she was able to do from home) along with her full time job (she needed more money). She stopped the vicious cycle of using credit cards to meet her needs, moved to a less expensive home. It took almost 2 years of not buying clothes or even going to the movies unless someone treated her, but she was finally out of debt and free!

Sisters, if you are bogged down in debt, have poor relationships with family, live in a perpetual state of anxiety and fear. It’s time to do something about it!

Any problem you have, you can study it out (for yourself) in the Bible. Any and everything we need to know is right there for us and our particular brand of troubles. Now don’t misunderstand me in anyway…the God of the Bible is many things, but we can’t just pick the good things and stand on all the blessings. We must also accept there are consequences for our sins, poor choices and disobedience. So, stop listening to people who present God as the doting grandfather or rich uncle.

Get around people who love to talk about God and the Bible and are able to back up what they say…in the Bible. Talk to people who have a great testimony of God’s love, chastisement and how He works it all together for our good—even when it is not pleasant—but in the end is all so very purposeful. Let yourself be encouraged by someone who made a mess of their lives, but can share how faithful God is without leaving out the hard times and things they had to work through.

Studying the Word of God should no longer be viewed as an “S” word! It should be something we can’t wait to do. After all, our lives and wellbeing depend on it!  

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie