I asked God, “how I can get more joy?” He said this…

Do you consider yourself a bible scholar? Do you love to get out the commentaries, dictionaries and concordance and dive in? Me too! Or maybe you just said, no not really, and that’s ok too. My husband would be right there with you on that one!

The bible is so amazing in that it is written for everyone of all time and of all learning personalities. It has layers of understanding so even a child can grasp much of it as well as the well seasoned and studious person looking for deeper understanding.

There have been many times in my life that I would read a passage of scripture only later to gain new revelation of it. The Holy Spirit often uses our willing moments to get into His word, and bring us just the right understanding that we need in that moment of our lives.

But, on this particular day a few months ago, I was praying and asking God why it is that sometimes I get into the bible and later feel frustrated or unfulfilled. Or what I like to call, “soul scratchy.” I asked Him, “how I can get more joy out of reading the Word and just more joy in general.” I was actually surprised to get a response.

When I say response, I don’t mean that the heavens opened up and a booming voice from the clouds came bellowing down to my ears. What I mean is that, “still small voice” that the bible talks about. I do think sometimes God might speak audibly to people, but most of the time I feel that it’s more of an inner voice; a strong impression or an “otherly” thought that seems to come out of nowhere.

Just to be clear, God will never speak anything to us that contradicts His word. He’s not going to speak anything profane or hateful. He’s not going to tell us the exact date of His return…you know, things like that.

So what did God say in response to me? I know you’ve all been reading with suspense this far. He said this. He said, “you have to spend more time digesting the scriptures, rather than dissecting them.”

I’m telling you, my jaw dropped. I was actually in the shower, which is where I do a lot of prayer. It’s the only place I can go where the kids aren’t! (#whenyouknowyouknow). I stopped, feeling the urge to get on my knees but did not because well, I am 42 and thinking about how I may slip and that wouldn’t be good, so I just paused a moment. It was kind of one of those ouchie moments, but in a good way. The Holy Spirit convicts us in a way where we then feel empowered to change. I learned this long ago and it helps me to discern my human tendency to guilt myself and wallow in condemnation, which is unproductive at best.

So what is digesting versus dissecting? Right away I knew what that meant for me. But, let’s just explore the dictionary to see if we gain any insight. Obviously, both of these words have obvious other meanings, but we will explore them as it relates to gathering information from text.

To dissect means to cut apart, break into pieces, analyze and evaluate in minute detail. And to digest means to absorb, understand, and integrate into the mind.

Dissecting is also done more externally where as digesting is done internally and that is the same with other applications of these words.

Lately, I had been approaching my time in the word with skepticism rather than with faith.

For me dissection sounds like: “I don’t understand this,” “I need to understand this or I can’t trust it,” “If I don’t read the whole thing front to back, how can I be a qualified Christian,” “If I don’t pick a part the scriptures and find the deeper meaning then I won’t really know God,” “there are so many ways to interpret the bible, I need to read it to find out who is lying,” and the worst is, “what if this bible is just nothing more than words on a page and in the end I will find out that God is a monster and everything I have been told about it is just the opinion of some man.” Seriously…that took a lot of guts for me to just reveal that to you, but it’s been a lie on repeat. It’s good to remember that Satan is the father of lies and tries to capture us all with doubt. He always uses his same bag of tricks. We have to be on guard.

My efforts to digest are now more like this. “I don’t have to know everything to trust God. He is the only one who knows everything and I am not God.” “The Holy Spirit will help me understand what I am supposed to know.” “I will start with prayer and ask for wisdom and understanding from God rather than depending on my own.” “I will read and not get hung up on every little thing because it distracts me from seeing the context of the verse.” “I will have faith that the bible is true because my spirit confirms it, the bible itself confirms it, other more spiritually mature people that I know revere and apply it to their life, and its truth does not depend on my ability to comprehend it all.” “The Word of God is like an onion and it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to bring the revelation layer by layer, not my own intellect.” I obviously am still a work in progress but I have felt since the beginning of the year I have had more revelation, than my soul feeling scratchy after time in the word.

I can’t be the only one who has wrestled with this so I decided to share my own experience that it may help stir your faith also. I think dissecting the Word also has its place. But, the important thing is that we not approach it with such skepticism that we are almost looking for reasons to abandon our faith rather than be edified by it. Remember, the bible says that even Satan knows the scriptures. He used them to try and deceive even Jesus himself during his 40 day fast. There is power in the Word of God, but it needs to get down on the inside of us. It needs to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge. That’s when it begins to transform us and renew our minds. So let’s ask the Holy Spirit for Godly wisdom and revelation.❤️

“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.” James 1:5 NLT