FB Note from Oct 4, 2009: My story...Part 4

As a widow with two young children, I had been placed in a situation where I could not possibly succeed and thrive on my own. Most of my life that had not been the case. I had been blessed with the intelligence, disposition, and talents that made my way through school a breeze, gave me a successful and fulfilling career, and a good family life. Other than a few snags (mostly outlined in parts one and two, and in which areas I had learned to rely on God), my life had pretty much been as easy as can be. Oh, sure, I had my moments and difficulties, but I nearly always had the ability to solve my problems in my own strength. That is not to say I didn't have a good relationship with God. I did. I just didn't feel the need to rely on Him for my daily strength. He was a wonderful add-on to my life; an important part, but not the only part. In fact, being married had actually decreased my dependence on God. Honestly, Michael had become my all-in-all; and Jesus was someone we taught our kids about and someone we worshiped on Sundays. When Michael died, all that crumbled. If I was going to make it, I had to look to God. I knew all the intelligence in the world wouldn't solve this one. Athletic talent would be no help. Even interpersonal skills wouldn't do it. I saw that I had to turn to God. Since I have already talked about this in part 3b I won't go into the details her, but instead will talk about some of the results.

I firmly believe that God has a special plan and purpose for each person's life. I also believe that He give us gifts and talents to use for Him. HOWEVER, often those gifts and talents lead us to rely on them instead of the Giver of the gifts. Those very gifts from God can make it difficult to feel the need to rely on God. Many of the smartest and most talented people are also the most miserable. They are trying to do it themselves. And some of the most unlikely people are happy, fulfilled, and successful because they know they can't do it themselves.

Almost exactly two years after Michael died, God called me to switch churches. At the time I didn't know why, and I really liked my old church; I just knew that was what I was supposed to do. At the new church there was a focus on purpose. I took a class about finding your purpose and boiled my purposed down to two words: Educate and Encourage. Okay, no huge surprise there. I also met two other young widows who were homeschooling their children. What? You mean I am not the only one? Hmmmm...

Meanwhile I was wishing I could find a Bible study where you actually sat down and studied the Bible (instead of preaching/dvd with discussion.) I felt the Lord speak to me that I could study His word on my own. WHAT? I never went to Bible school. I have never had a class that told me how to do that (actually I did, but Mr. Korver's 10th grade Bible class was a LONG time ago.) People don't STUDY the Bible on their own. Pastors do that (it's their job!), but regular people like me have "quiet time" or "devotions." Nevertheless, I knew I was supposed to study my Bible. I borrowed my mom and dad's concordance (they went to Bible school and had the credentials to "study") and using the concordance and a dictionary started studying. The Lord led me to look up the word "widow" in the concordance. I looked up all the scriptures with the word "widow" in them and hand wrote out most of them. It was slow, tedious work, but exciting too, in a strange way. I found myself getting up early to have more time to study. Sometimes I would break out my Bible in the afternoon or evening to get some more time in. What did I discover? More than I bargained for. First and foremost: in order to get the MOST out of the Bible you have to STUDY it for yourself instead of relying on others to do it for you. Let me say that again: you have to STUDY the Bible for yourself instead of relying on others to do it for you! I feel like I cannot say it enough. It is VITAL! I also learned about God's amazing care for widows. I can trust in Him because He cares for me and has said it over and over and over in His Word. It is a theme that runs throughout the whole Bible and now is imbedded deep in my heart.

The "more than I bargained for" will have to wait for part 5. Stay tuned...

More Bible Study Information

My good friend has a Bible study blog and she posted today under the title "I Don't Know How to Study." Her post is wonderfully informative with links to lots of resources and with several different methods of study. I would HIGHLY encourage you to read it!

http://whatistudy.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-dont-know-how-to-study.html

I will quote one of my favorite things she says that I hadn't previously thought of, "there is a time for shallow and a time for deep. And we need balance of both. When you dig into a topic so deep that you ignore all else, you can fall into error. But if you only ever skim the surface, shallowly, you also won't get the wisdom and insight that you need." She advocates STUDYING a topic and also devotional Bible reading for an overview. Very wise! Now go read the whole post!

Bible Study Ideas

If you are ready to start studying your Bible instead of just reading it devotionally (reading devotionally is good, too, but in my experience study opens up whole new worlds) here are a few tips and ideas I have. Of course, these are not the only ways to study the Bible, but they are what I have done personally. You will need a Bible, preferably one with cross references; a concordance; a notebook; and a pencil or pen. Also helpful is access to different version of the Bible. Bible Gateway is a good site for different versions, and I'm sure that there are online concordances available (if you know of a good one, please let me know.) I generally either start with a particular verse or passage that I want to study OR a topic (e.g. widows, hope, etc.)

If you start with a verse:
• Look it up in different versions
• Look at the marginal notes (especially other scripture references)
• Look up key words in the dictionary (even words you know the meaning of)
• Look in a concordance for the Hebrew or Greek meaning of the key words
• If you find a word that you want to investigate further, see below


If you start with a topic:
• Look up that word in a concordance to find verses that speak to you (this can be tricky, especially if the topic is huge, hopefully I'll write more about this step later)
• Look up other related words (you can find other words translated from the same Hebrew or Greek word in a concordance or you can get ideas in a thesaurus)
• If you find a verse to investigate further, see above

If a topic is too big or overwhelming or is just not what you are focusing on right now, but you would like to get to it later, start a collection of references, gathered as you come across them. Save them for later when you are ready to do something with them.

I would encourage you to write out verses by hand, as much as is practical. This is very helpful to paying attention to every word and really meditating on it. Sometimes it is good to write a verse on an index card and put it where you will see it frequently. Sometimes I end up writing the same verses down multiple times over a period of weeks or months, and getting something new out of them every single time. Of course, the most important elements are an open heart and a willingness to listen to God’s leading and the Holy Spirit's insight.