Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Without a Doubt


I'm in a Bible Study that meets on Wednesday mornings, and we have homework to do during the week. Wouldn't you know that the homework I did this morning was about doubting? So, I'm still thinking about it. It's actually a study on the beatitudes, and in this section, the author is talking about the blessing offered to "those who are hungry and thirsty for justice" (Matt. 5:6) and looking at things that hinder us from having that kind of hunger.

Doubt is something that can keep us from hungering for, desiring, and longing for a life lived God's way. Yesterday, I quoted my pastor, who described doubt as what can happen when "our experience with God doesn't line up with our expectations of Him." I suggested taking some time to figure out what those expectations are...and then getting into the Word to see how those expectations fit with who God is. The author of our Bible Study, Angela Thomas says, "Whenever a question about God comes to me out of nowhere, the most powerful thing I can do is recite to myself what I know to be true about God." She says to look at the attributes of God; read what the Bible has to say about who God is.

You can go to www.biblegateway.com and type in a word like, "unchanging" or "holy" or even a phrase like, "God's power" and it will give you a list of verses that you can click on to read what the Bible says. The verse that made me say "wow!" out loud this morning (I don't do a lot of speaking at that hour....) was Isaiah 45:18b-19. "'I am the LORD,' he says, 'and there is no other. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so no one can understand what I mean. And I did not tell the people of Israel to ask me for something I did not plan to give. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and right.'"

Well, ok. He's not keeping any secrets...it's all there if you're looking and listening. My dad said to me last night that he thinks I'm making it all look so difficult. I don't know about that, I'm just saying I don't have it all figured out all the time.....but certainly God says, "Here I am!" So look into WHO He is, and what you're expecting of Him. Again I say, Wow.

2 comments:

Michelle Van Loon said...

Placing a hyperlink in a blog entry using blogspot is simple. When you're typing your entry in the box, look at the icons along the top of that box. There are icons to click to change your font size and color, one you can use to insert a picture or video,and so on. One of those icons is a picture of a couple of chain links. First highlight the word or words in your textbox you'd like to turn into a link, click on the chain link icon, then type or paste the http:// address associated with your link. Viola!

--julie said...

Alright! Thanks, Michelle. My mistake was in not selecting anything. Look for links in the future!
Now, get back to your writing, missy!:)