Solitude with the Father

I have heard many pastors say scripture is simple enough that a child could understand it but so complex that you can read it for a life time and never get everything out of it.

Hebrews 4:12 says that “The word of God is living and active…” For years I thought it just meant that it is relevant no matter the date on the calendar, which it is. However; recently God impressed on my heart a deeper understanding.   One verse can be applied to many different situations not just the one specifically mentioned.

For instance, take the verse in James that says “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”  The context is talking about our anger, and before we lose it we need to process what was said and not react.

My oldest daughter has been struggling with a relationship.  For months now I have been telling her to talk it over with her friend, to express what she is seeing and how she feels. She chose not to.  Now months later everything came to a head and she was forced to work through it.  On top of that, the situation affected another friend. I continued to remind her, what I had been saying for months, then walked out of her room.

When I expressed my frustration to my husband his response was, “She just wants you to listen.”

I’m a fixer; she wanted a listening ear. “Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak…”.  That includes a mother who wants to fix things. I went to apologize.

“Honey, you wanted me to only listen, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

She continued to look at the book she had been reading.

“I’m sorry.  I should have just listened.  I tell you what.  When you want to talk about something, tell me you just want me to listen.  I promise I won’t be angry.  Deal?”

“Sure,” she answered in typical teenager fashion.

The Bible is truly amazing.

Have you disregarded reading a passage of scripture because you have read it before?

I encourage you to go back and read it again, asking God to remind you of a principle you have forgotten or to show you a new way to apply it.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)