Salvation Summaries

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

I am increasingly convinced that one way to know God and understand what He wants you to do is by earnestly seeking Him in His word. For years I have prayed and studied the Bible daily, and as a result have slowly grown in my knowledge of Him. But it wasn’t until I earnestly sought Him in His word that I began to “hear” from Him and experience Him.

“Could you elaborate on that last part?” Sure.

During the early part of covid when people were getting sick and dying, my oldest son came down with what seemed to be covid and became unusually fatigued to the point that he couldn’t work. This lasted for a week and a half or so, and then he got better, but then it happened again. He got tested for covid and it came back negative, so the only other explanation to his symptoms was a negative reaction to the covid vaccine (we know of another person who reacted in the same way after becoming vaccinated). Our son became quite concerned about whether he would fully recover from this or get worse like some others who got covid and not make it.

Around the same time, I came down with covid and became unusually fatigued (I did not take the vaccine), and also became concerned with what might happen to me given my prior health problems and weak immune system.

Out of desperation, I pleaded with God to show me – in His word – what my fate would be. I wanted Him to direct me to verses that related to either life or death, and then I would know. I didn’t simply hope that God would do this; I earnestly believed that He would, and I settled in my mind that I would accept whatever the verse said. If the verse related to life, then I would be OK. But if it was about death, then I knew that I would die.

So, I “randomly” but intentionally (I believe God directed me to a certain part of the Bible and a certain page rather than finding it simply by chance) opened up my Bible and began reading the first words I saw, and there it was…a verse about life. Of the 31,000 verses in the Bible, my eyes landed upon this one was about life. I knew then that I would recover from covid, and need not worry about dying from it. Later I did the same thing for my oldest son, and once again, I found and read (within a few seconds) verses about life not death. I then assured our son that he also would live and not die from covid.

The covid experience was the beginning of my “journey” to know and experience God by crying out to Him in prayer and then earnestly seeking Him AND believing that He would point to me in Scripture what He wanted me to know.

I do the same thing today. I either sit at my desk, cover my ears and earnestly pray to Him, or I go downstairs into our basement, get on my knees and put my elbows and Bible on the seat of an old Lazy boy recliner, and then cry out to Him with my prayer concerns and expect Him to show me in His word want He wants me to read about. I typically have a handful of items I want His direction or guidance on so I focus on those.

Does this “method” work 100% of the time? No. But I continue to be amazed that it works at all, for what are the chances of opening up a 2,000 page book to a page and a verse that just so happen to relate to what you prayed about? The odds would be extremely low, right? And yet, it works.

How? The only explanation is God.

God can communicate to us in a number of ways. He can “plant” a thought into our mind shortly after we pray for guidance or wisdom on something. He can use a Christian radio host or a Christian neighbor to mention something that relates to what we prayed about or are concerned with. He can even ensure that we open up a certain email or a letter that contains information we need to know. And, He can direct us to find something in His “living and active” word that relates to what we have prayed about.

But for this to work – to find an answer from Him in His word – I believe that a person must earnestly seek Him in this way AND then expect Him to answer you. If there’s only hope that He might, or doubt that He will, then this shows a lack of faith, and it likely won’t work. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

So, dear reader. If this “approach” works for me (I hesitate to use the word approach or method because I believe God is responding to the desire of a person’s heart more than validating a certain way of seeking Him), then it can work for you too. Earnestly seek Him in His word for a while, and let me know what happens.