Friday, April 1, 2011
How do you know?
You know what I'm struggling with right now? How do you know that the way you interpret scripture is correct? There are some that read the Bible literally and all that it says is exactly what it means. For others, there are bigger meanings and theologies and ideas behind it. The pieces represent a whole. Here is why I struggle. There are people in my life, people I respect. People I love. People I know who love the Lord. They also stand on very different ground regarding issues of faith and obedience. (Those issues in a nutshell to start with are love and obedience, the Sabbath, eating pork, those being on the path to heaven being drastically narrow, the second coming, the role of the body of Christ, law and gospel etc.) I am confident. Truly confident that both sides pray, research, read, struggle, ask questions, dig to find truth, and then they come up with different answers. Both sides confident their discovery is correct. Both confident that God has spoken truth to them, and yet their outcomes are different. Different to a point of altering how you approach, read and understand scripture and ultimately God himself. There is a war of words in my mind. I can hear all sides while I read the Bible myself, and then when I pray through it and strive to hear only the one voice that matters, there is a slightly different answer. How can we all be coming up with different answers? And where can I find my confidence in understanding faith enough to teach it to my children? This is I feel paralyzed. When I living out my faith, I want to be confident in what I believe. I want to teach it to my children, as I know it shapes their lives. I don't want to be filled with the words of a false prophet or teacher. I want to live in truth. Yet when I see others that I know also want to live in truth, truly want to live in truth and actively seek it, then their conclusions are different, I am left very confused. Lord, tonight I ask that you would grant peace in this process of discovering you and all the truths that you have hidden in your word for us. Reveal yourself to me, and give me the courage to hear your voice and fight to find your truth.
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Hey, Dani! Thanks for posting this. I always appreciate your authenticity! I have been feeling this way for a long time now. I don't understand how we as Christians can been on such different pages and have such vast convictions from one another, yet feel that God gave us or guided us to believe them. I also want to be confident in what I believe and have peace about others believing so many other things. I'll be praying that we can receive that peace and understanding and if you have any new insights, do share!! :-)
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