dear abbey

recently a friend sent me a note asking a basic question:
why aren't the people i love drawing the same conclusions from scripture that i am?

here are the highlights of a rather lengthy reply:

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it's great to read that you are seeking the face of God in all things. for me, there is great encouragement in reading 3000 year old words (the psalms) that call you to the one who is outside of time and yet approachable to those of us bound by it. to be reminded of the calamity that has befallen so many, but which seems to be informed by the perspective of the psalmist challenges and inspires me to examine my own faith perspective for spots that are a bit spare.

you have also been reading the words of paul and have been drawing personal guidance from these scriptures concerning your own journey through this valley time. it is right to be prayerfully considering what the scriptures are saying to us, for we are the only person over whom we have any say. sadly, this is where it gets a little dodgy for most of us:

i know what God is saying to me through the scriptures... why isn't my friend/partner/colleague/parishioner getting the message that's obviously there?'

if someone you care for is searching the scriptures and not receiving the same message as you are from them, there might be a couple of reasons:

1) he/she's not looking in the same way
2) he/she's not looking for the same things

both of these are, perhaps, answers to your the question in your note regarding the discrepancy between what you're being told and what others appear to be.

the control freak in us (ha ha- i'm confessing to harbouring one myself, not accusing you of such!) wants to run things our way. we go to the scriptures that we know will affirm what we already believe, or at the very least, speak upon that topic. we use concordances and bible helps to try and 'get it', all the while knowing what we are wanting to get: an answer that aligns itself with our will. this approach to drawing truth from scripture is not wrong, but it's not the only way to receive a message from God through his word.

sometimes we treat the scriptures the way people work with statistics- choosing to consider the ones that back up our perspective or position.

another way to approach the matter of what scripture says to us and what it doesn't is to simply continue with your regular devotions, reading the scriptures through the lens of your journey today and taking from them the things that this lens draws to your attention. you may draw some really unexpected comfort and insight from the word in areas that initially seem to have nothing to do with the questions you bring to them. yes, this is a more 'mystical' approach, but is far from the random 'open your bible, close your eyes and point at a passage' approach that people often default to. it simply involves continuing the faithful discipline of reading scripture, seeking biblical truth from the word in context.

try journaling your thoughts as you read. see where they go. stream of consciousness is a gift that God has given us so we can perceive the ideas that he has linked together in his larger themes. see if the passage you are reading reminds you of something else and then use the concordance to try to find that and read it as well. i am often amazed at how God seems to have so much to say in some rather unlikely places. i would give you some recent examples, but this note is already pretty long without anecdotes...