Why is it Hard to Read the Bible?
Why do I have such a hard time reading the Bible? I used to think that reading the Bible was boring and hard to understand. But when I really started studying the Bible I soon found that the Bible is one of the most exciting books I've ever read! It helped me grow in my faith so much and I used to read it every night. So why am I having trouble reading it now?
To be honest, lately, I haven't even been opening my Bible except on Sundays. Why? Well, I have many excuses:
1. I don't have time.
2. I already read most of it anyway.
3. I can just read whatever we are supposed to read in church.
4. My relationship with the Lord is pretty good right now, so I don't need to deepen my relationship with him by reading the Bible.
Sadly, these are the excuses that I tell my self. Are they true? No. There is always time to spend with Jesus. The Bible is not just a book, it is the very word of God and I can read a Bible verse or passage and get something different out of it each time. Even if you finished the Bible it is important to read it because God can reveal things to you that you never realized before. My faith should also go past just going to church and youth group. My relationship with the Lord always has room to grow. So what's the real reason for me not reading my Bible?
The main reason for this is because there are things in my life that I know that God wants to change, but I don't want him to change them. I just don't want to deal with my issues. And I know that if I read the Bible, the Lord will point out those things in my life that need to change. After he helps me to realize what needs to change he holds my hand and says, "Let me help you." But working through issues in your life is never easy. I would much rather just avoid them all together. That is why I haven't been reading my Bible. That is also why my relationship with the Lord won't move on and why my life isn't how I want it to be.
I wan't to live my life for Christ. I want to help people discover our Lord and Savior. I wan't to help people with their problems. But how can I if I don't even work through my own problems? How can I trust God with my life if I don't even trust him to help me? (Are you getting tired of all the questions yet?) The answer is.....(drum roll please).......I can't! God can't use me if I don't let him. God can't use YOU if you don't let him.
If this sound like you, then we are in the same boat. Can we work through this together? It's always nice to know that you are not alone and that there is someone else who is struggling with the same thing. So now you have me. :) But, do you want to know who else you have? You have God. He is here for you. He knows that you are struggling with allowing Him to work in your life. He knows that you have issues that you just don't want to deal with. But he is here for you. And he will give you the strength that you need to overcome your problems. "... For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10. He makes us strong even in our weakness. But we need to let him walk along side us and make us strong enough to work on our weaknesses.
So whether your issues or weaknesses are lying, doubt, sexual immorality (sex before marriage), fear, anger, greed, or anything else, God can help you work through it. The first step is probably the hardest. We need to spend some time with God. So set up a time every day that you decide to hang out with the Lord. Next, Ask Jesus to reveal to you the things in your life and that are in your heart that need to change. This can be hard because you actually have to admit that you have a problem. Then what we need to do (because we are both working through issues) is we need to ask God to help us to work through these weakness and overcome them. This is where we need to surrender ourselves to him. We need to stop avoiding our problems and start to face them head on.
I like to think of my walk with the Lord as a hike up a mountain trail. If you have ever been hiking on a dirt trail you probably have noticed that the trail isn't always clear. Sometimes there are puddles of mud that you have to go through, there are times when you run into things (like wild animals) that scare you and make you want to go off the trail, and other times there are rocks that block you from going any further. My weaknesses are like the rocks that make stop me from going any further in my relationship with the Lord. There are a few things that we often do when we face these blocks. We avoid the problem and just hang out in the same spot four ever. We decide that the trail we are going on isn't worth dealing with the giant rock in the way so we stray off the trail. Or we decide that we want to keep going no matter what is in our way, so we face the problem. This is what I am going to start doing and I pray that this is how you will deal with the problems that you face during your walk with the Lord.
However, we cannot face these problems on our won. I know this because I have tried. I am not strong enough to move the giant rocks in my life. But I know someone who is! Jesus is. And when I ask him for help we both push on the boulder together and the boulder starts to move. Sometimes it only takes a short time to move the rock and other times moving the boulder takes a really long time. But once you reach the end of the trail you will realize how worth it it was. And you didn't have to do it alone. Jesus was there with you every step of the way. :)
So let's stop avoiding and lets start overcoming! "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13