Sustained by the Bible

      Christianity Today has again given us rich food for thought. They have assembled short essays by study leaders, authors, and scholars who describe how Scripture has sustained them during difficult times.

      Marlena Graves compiled these offerings into a Special Issue under the title 10 Bible Passages That Help Us Persevere (September, 2020). From among the ten women she features, I have chosen three:

      Jen Wilkin, Dallas mom, author, and Bible teacher focuses on Psalm 139:23: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”

      She explains that as a young, overwhelmed mother, growing in her awareness of her own limits, she needed a vision of a transcendent God to reorient her.     

      “In times of difficulty, “she writes, “we tend to look inward or to another person or a created thing for help. “Initially, I viewed Psalm 139 as God showing interest in all that made me special.

      "But I was surprised to connect the end of the psalm to the beginning, which asks that God continue searching and knowing, testing me, regarding my anxious thoughts and offensive ways. God reads my sins and weaknesses perfectly, and I should ask him to keep doing that.” 

      Anjuli Paschall, author, spiritual director, and mother of five children, zooms in on Mark 10: 46-52 (the healing of Bartimaeus).

      She says that when she was struggling, drowning in diapers, a dear friend asked her what she wanted. She could tell people what she needed, but she didn’t know what she wanted.

      Paschall explains that she would have a desire—like wanting time alone. But she would be frustrated and get angry—until the story of Bartimaeus came to her rescue.

      She was reminded that when Bartimaeus gropes his way over to Jesus and they stand face to face, Jesus wants to hear Bartimaeus tell him what he wants. God loves him and is saying, “Come over here, get face to face, tell me what you want.’’

      Paschall suggests that when we’re vulnerable enough to tell Jesus what we really want, this shows the movement of our hearts, our formation, part of what makes us whole.

      She concludes: “Speak your greatest heart’s desire to God, whether people tease you, or it’s embarrassing, or it doesn’t make sense. That’s Bartimaeus, right? Even important people told him to be quiet, but he spoke up. May we speak louder, like Bartimaeus!”

      Ann Voskamp, farmer, public speaker, and author leans upon Romans 8:32: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

      For her, trust is the bridge from yesterday to tomorrow, built with what God has done in the past. In trust, she says, we can walk from the known to the unknown. 

      Voskamp says that today, with what we see happening in many of our livelihoods, it looks as though the bridge underneath us is going to give way. “But when it seems to give way, we are falling into Christ’s safe arms.”

      So, in trust, she concludes, we can live generously toward others, thereby destroying the myth of scarcity. We get to live life given away and show the world what it means to live in Christ. “Stepping into trust is actually what faith means.”

      Although the Christianity Today feature is confined to the selections of women, it seems fitting to include three men among our Bible lovers.

      Steve Ryf, from Johns Creek, Georgia, former airline pilot and avid photographer, has long been inspired by 2 Timothy 1:7: God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (New King James).

      Ryf writes: “Paul’s declaration here is truly comprehensive and applicable. I pray to see increasingly that God’s love is the fearless omnipotence of good, acting as a law of dominion and protection, whether I’m walking down the street or flying an airplane.

      He continues: “A sound mind is one free from error or defect and encourages me to think as the child of God, and not about the child of God, which implies separation.

      “I’m seeing it's not about attempting to improve or manipulate a personal mind, but making less and less of it by yielding to the allness of the one infinite, ‘sound’ Mind, which is God.”

      Jay Jostyn, stay-at-home dad and former broadcast journalist, chooses Philippians 3:13,14: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

      Jostyn says: “When I reflect on my life, I feel incredibly blessed, but, like most people, I’ve faced my share of tough times. So sometimes it’s tempting to regret past decisions and actions. And that’s when the apostle Paul’s comforting words remind me that I can wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

      “Certainly I should learn from my mistakes and try not to repeat them, but this Bible passage tells me that my mistakes don’t define me. As I strive daily to follow Christ Jesus’ example, I can feel free from the past and know that my ‘life is hid with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3).”

      And if I, as blogger, qualify as a fair choice for the third male contributor, I would not hesitate to name the twenty-third Psalm as my constant guide to fearless living.

      Among the many poetic paraphrases around, no lines inspire me more than these, chosen at random, from Japanese writer, Tokio Megashia:

      The Lord is my Pace setter—I shall not rush.

         He makes me stop for quiet intervals,

      He provides me with images of stillness which

      restore my serenity,

      He leads me in ways of efficiency through

      calmness of mind,

      And his guidance is peace…

      His timelessness, His all importance, will keep 

      me in balance…

      He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst

      Of my activity.

      By anointing my mind with His oils of tranquility,

      My cup of joyous energy overflows.