Have you ever been kayaking down a river? I fell in love with kayaking on a family vacation several years ago and when my son said he wanted to do something special together before he went off to graduate school, I knew what I wanted to do.
We spent a morning kayaking down the Chestatee River in Dahlonega, Georgia. It was such a quiet, peaceful morning. There was only one other kayak on the river as we made our way down stream, which was probably good since we didn’t really know what we were doing. I may or may not have made friends with them because I crashed into them. Don’t judge. They were lovely people and we enjoyed getting to know them.
Weeks later, I invited my husband to make the same trip. I knew he would love the peacefulness of the time on the river and experience some much needed relaxation. When we launched into the river, there were kayaks everywhere, filled with elementary and middle school children. We had small stretches of river where we were the only ones but for the most part, it was a crowded river. The water level was also lower, which meant we had to actually get out and walk our kayaks some because we got stuck on rocks a good bit of the time.
Needless to say, my trips down the same river in the same type of kayak were totally different. It reminded me of a quote attributed to Greek philosopher Heraclitus,
You never step into the same river twice.”
It’s the same riverbed and I was traveling the same path and distance, but the circumstances surrounding my experience were different. Thus, my entire experience was different.
The same can be said about our experience reading the Bible. What do I mean? Have you ever read a passage of scripture that you’ve read before but this time it hits you in a completely different way? Have you ever wondered why? After all, the words on the page are the same.
The words don’t change over time, yet the message you receive may change dependent on your circumstances, mind, heart and emotions.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
God knows what we need from His Word when we crack open the pages. He knows our hearts, our minds, our emotions and our circumstances, probably better than we know them ourselves.
He highlights what He needs to highlight from a particular passage at a particular time based on what we’re walking through and what we need at the time.
This is how we can sit in a sermon or do a Bible study and have a segment of scripture speak to us in a way we’ve never encountered before. Same scripture, different circumstances.
What has God been speaking to you lately through His Word? Please share it here. God may use you to highlight something someone else needs to discover. Until next time…..
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