What can stories about a bunch of people a long time ago mean to my life? I have heard this and similar sentiments too often about the Scriptures. God wants to reveal things about himself to you through the Bible. I will tell you from my own experience, once I really got into it I could start to see how the stories applied to me. I first noticed this when I had been reading the books of history. The day that it first struck me I was smack dab in the middle of 1 Samuel.
A recurring theme throughout the Old Testament is that people who put their faith and trust in God are able to accomplish things that are otherwise impossible. Whether it is a woman well passed child baring age that was barren her whole life becoming pregnant, a foreigner who is in prison being elevated to the administrator of an entire country, or a few men defeating an entire battalion of a superior enemy. These are just a few examples; the Old Testament is full of stories which fit this theme.
The following is how I first saw these themes play out in my own life. We were having a major problem at work. We had spent several days on the problem and we were nowhere closer to solving it. The problem was beginning to spill over into my (and others) personal life. I was feeling anxious and was not able to focus on other aspects of my life.
To relate this problem to one of the better know Old Testament accounts, let me try to compare it to the story of David and Goliath. Most people know the basic tenants of this story. Goliath is a massive warrior who dwarfs all others. He taunts the Israelites constantly that they have no one who can defeat him in battle. David is not only much smaller but also is a shepherd rather than a warrior. David put all of his faith and trust in God and went to meet Goliath in battle. To say that David killed Goliath with ease is a major understatement.
That is how I felt with this problem. That there was no way I could track it down and solve it. There are just so many places this problem could have been. It could have been in our infrastructure, in our code, or as the result of something from the outside that was coming in and we had been unable to track down. Even worse it could have been some combination of these things. You see the problem was huge, Goliath like if you will.
I guess at first you could have compared me to the entire Israelite army. I was just trying to do it on my own. After all God has done for me in my life, it took me nearly a week to bring my problems to him. I went to bed one night with a prayer on my heart that I would be delivered from the feelings of anxiety and the overall obsession with the problem. I got up the next morning to face my Goliath and to say that I killed Goliath with ease would be a major understatement. I literally walked into work sat down at my desk and found a small typo that changed the face of the problem. I fixed the typo, and the problem dropped like a large man hit squarely in the forehead with a stone from a slingshot.
Least this sound like a dry account of some hum drum day to day activity let me assure you that when I solved this problem with such ease, I was immediately rocked with a feeling of awe at the blessing which God had bestowed on me.
What was God trying to reveal to me. I believe that He wanted me to learn that if I am faithful to Him and trust in Him he will deliverer me from my enemies just as he did time and time again for our Israelite ancestors in the faith. What does God want to reveal to you? Pick up a Bible and find out.
A recurring theme throughout the Old Testament is that people who put their faith and trust in God are able to accomplish things that are otherwise impossible. Whether it is a woman well passed child baring age that was barren her whole life becoming pregnant, a foreigner who is in prison being elevated to the administrator of an entire country, or a few men defeating an entire battalion of a superior enemy. These are just a few examples; the Old Testament is full of stories which fit this theme.
The following is how I first saw these themes play out in my own life. We were having a major problem at work. We had spent several days on the problem and we were nowhere closer to solving it. The problem was beginning to spill over into my (and others) personal life. I was feeling anxious and was not able to focus on other aspects of my life.
To relate this problem to one of the better know Old Testament accounts, let me try to compare it to the story of David and Goliath. Most people know the basic tenants of this story. Goliath is a massive warrior who dwarfs all others. He taunts the Israelites constantly that they have no one who can defeat him in battle. David is not only much smaller but also is a shepherd rather than a warrior. David put all of his faith and trust in God and went to meet Goliath in battle. To say that David killed Goliath with ease is a major understatement.
That is how I felt with this problem. That there was no way I could track it down and solve it. There are just so many places this problem could have been. It could have been in our infrastructure, in our code, or as the result of something from the outside that was coming in and we had been unable to track down. Even worse it could have been some combination of these things. You see the problem was huge, Goliath like if you will.
I guess at first you could have compared me to the entire Israelite army. I was just trying to do it on my own. After all God has done for me in my life, it took me nearly a week to bring my problems to him. I went to bed one night with a prayer on my heart that I would be delivered from the feelings of anxiety and the overall obsession with the problem. I got up the next morning to face my Goliath and to say that I killed Goliath with ease would be a major understatement. I literally walked into work sat down at my desk and found a small typo that changed the face of the problem. I fixed the typo, and the problem dropped like a large man hit squarely in the forehead with a stone from a slingshot.
Least this sound like a dry account of some hum drum day to day activity let me assure you that when I solved this problem with such ease, I was immediately rocked with a feeling of awe at the blessing which God had bestowed on me.
What was God trying to reveal to me. I believe that He wanted me to learn that if I am faithful to Him and trust in Him he will deliverer me from my enemies just as he did time and time again for our Israelite ancestors in the faith. What does God want to reveal to you? Pick up a Bible and find out.
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