I am astounded by how God has been using the Bible so much to speak to me lately. It's incredible. It's never been like this before in my life.I had tried the whole open-the-book-to-a-random-page-and-find-meaning-in-whatever-it-says technique before, but I never found it to be meaningful.
But lately, one after another after another, I keep finding relevant passages for my life using the "random page" technique.
Take last night, for example.
I came home angry and upset at my friend who had left me stranded with that flat tire.
I opened to a random page, only to find the 13th Chapter of Luke before me. The paragraph that preceded Chapter 13 was all about the importance of making a settlement with your opponent, and the beginning of Chapter 13 was a call to repentance. The passage spoke of guilt being equal among all parties involved. What a humbling and needed message for me to hear. And while I still feel that my friend was incredibly selfish and wrong for what he did, I should have just offered up the whole experience instead of let myself give into such anger.
And then tonight, when I got home from my grad class (having thought on the entire drive home about how difficult it is to remain pure when you're about to turn 30 and have found no one left to save yourself for), I opened my Bible and found the following verses in the 5th Chapter of Galatians:
For you were called to freedom, brothers.
But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
Rather, serve one another through love.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement,
Namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
But, if you go on biting and devouring one another,
Beware that you are not consumed by one another.
I say, then: live by the Spirit
And you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh has desires against the Spirit,
And the Spirit against the flesh.
These are opposed to each other,
So that you may not do what you want.
But if you are guided by the Spirit,
You are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
Immorality, impurity, licentiousness,
Idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
Outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
Dissensions, fractions, occasions of envy,
Drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I warned you before,
That those who do such things
Will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
Generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus
Have crucified their flesh
With its possessions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit,
Let us also follow the Spirit.
Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.
Can you believe this?! What better passage could I have stumbled upon? Amazing! And oh, how embarrassed I feel to have doubted God's perfect Will for my life, even for a second.Holding my Bible, my eager eyes and hands wanted more. I turned to another random page, only to find something else that was extremely relevant. My aunt had just visited me this weekend from New Jersey, and she is a widow. The Scripture told me the following in Chapter 5 of First Timothy:
Honor widows...for it is pleasing to God.
The real widow, who is all alone,
Has set her hope on God and continues
In supplications and prayers, night and day.
And whoever does not provide for relatives
And especially family members
Has denied the faith
And is worse than an unbeliever.
If a woman believer has widowed relatives,
She must assist them.
