“Why would God give you a book of exceptions? This is how I used to relate to my people, but I don’t do that anymore. No, the Bible is a book of examples of what it looks like to walk with God.” John Eldredge
I enjoy spending time in God’s Word… I didn’t always, but I do now. There were many reasons that I did not enjoy reading God’s Word before, everything from, ‘This just doesn’t make any sense’, to ‘I’m not even sure what to be reading’, to ‘How do I even begin to apply what happened thousands of years ago to my day-to-day life.’
Those were some of the hinderances to me reading God’s Word before, but they were not the BIGGEST hinderance… no, there was one major hinderance that for a very long time kept me from reading God’s Word.
WHY DOESN’T GOD DO TODAY WHAT HE DID BACK IN THE DAY?
The Red Sea being parted - AMAZING STORY!
The sun standing still - THAT REALLY HAPPENED!
A donkey talking to his owner - TRUE STORY!
Three best friends rescued from the fiery furnace - SUPER POWERFUL!
The list of amazing things recorded in the Bible, well, they are simply just that… AMAZING! But to be honest, I can’t say in good conscience that an animal has ever talked to me, or I’ve seen the waters' part, or that my seltzer has turned into wine.
Again, what hindered me from reading God’s Word was not so much that I did not believe that those things happened. I 110% believe they happened. But the disconnect for me was simply…
WHY DOESN’T GOD DO TODAY WHAT HE DID BACK IN THE DAY?
Over the coming weeks in these weekly devotional thoughts, I want to spend some time answering this question because without thoughtful and meaningful answers we’ll not only not ENJOY being with God in His Word, but worse yet, we’ll MISS OUT on experiencing ALL that God has for us as we walk with Him.
For now, the one thought that has been informing so much of how I think about this is the word EXAMPLES. As John Eldredge pointed out (quoted above), what we see in the Scriptures are not phenomenal stories of what God used to be like and how God used to move in people’s lives. NOT AT ALL.
Embedded within God’s Word are countless numbers of EXAMPLES of who God is, what God is like, how the LORD responds to acts of faith and obedience, along with how He responds to acts of sin.
God’s Word is filled NOT with exceptions but EXAMPLES… and as we’ll see in the coming weeks together through these devotionals, EXAMPLES of how the LORD desires to work in and through our lives today as we keep walking with Him.
