Into the Mystic

Okay...not really! (wink) Sometimes I post things on Facebook that are misunderstood. I feel that a recent post this week may fall into that category. So, I wanted to clarify the point intended by my post regarding my son's request for a Bible on the very day I had ordered a new one for him...

...From the outset here, I need to say that I truly think that the timing was evidence of God's sovereign leading and not some mystical, supernatural manifestation of God's direction for me. Neither was it an act borne out of some inward feeling. Frankly, anyone who knows me at all knows that I rarely make a move when it comes to things like this based on feelings. In everything I do, I earnestly try to weigh what I am considering against the Word of God. And when my feelings coincide with the revealed will of God, that's great. And when they do not line up with the Bible, I try to shove my feelings aside and press forth with what God has said, knowing that I cannot trust my heart but only Him. The reason I share all of that is to say that I did note that a couple of the posts that were added to my initial one could have left a person with the impression that I had some little epiphany that afternoon, or was moved totally out-of-the-blue, apart from any thing other than my own feelings to order those Bibles. Nothing could be further from the case. I was simply noting the timing ~ which I believe was an affirmation from the Lord that I was doing what He wanted done.

Actually, I had come to a personal decision about the kids and what I felt they needed to better apprehend the Scriptures over the last week or so. That conviction was borne out of two things.

• First, our own devotions sort of prompted my thinking. I often spend a great deal of time re-translating verses when they are using the one version they both currently own, bringing out word meanings. Ironically, those "fixes" are already translated correctly in say a NASB or KJV Bible because they are word-for-word translations, rather than a thought-for-thought rendering of God's Word. Practicality and ease of study is one major factor in my decision.
• Secondly, watching them stumble through their copy of the Word each week during the Scripture reading portion of our weekly worship services prompted me to see what I could find for them. The NIV and the ESV are NOTHING alike in the way they read. There is a big difference reading something taken in a more verbatim manner than a paraphrase, and the same is true of Bible translations. What was a good Bible for them as small children is now a hinderence to them as they sit in more adult-centered times of teaching. And I feel that focusing so much on trying to read one version while listening to another actually interferes with one's ability to worship the Lord Who speaks through His Word to us during this precious time of our services.

Bottom line: this move was not some epiphany! Neither was it some esoteric experience or divine sign to "mom" that said, "Dawn, buy the kids a Bible today!" ☺ That said, because I had not discussed with them what I had been thinking, the timing was,...well, a little too coincidental to be coincidence, if you catch my drift?

I am pretty passionate about "getting it right," when studying the Word. And while the LORD has been teaching me recently that His Word is not meant "to be conquered," but rather to conquer my heart and mind, the fact remains that the Word must be understood to the best of our ability to apprehend it. So, the conviction that I have about that issue, combined with a couple of recent observations, were catalysts that led to the decision to buy the Bible that day.

Because the origin of such neat events in the life of a family is borne out of God's Word, the credit/glory ultimately for even such things still belongs solely to God. After all, only the LORD puts it in the heart of a depraved sinner to love His word, to cherish it and to purpose to teach it to our children (Deut. 6) or in the case of my son, to better learn it. The way the LORD works astounds me, frankly! He moves our minds and hearts to want to act, and then also to act - all through His ministry through the Word of God. Maybe in that way I feel that the decision was led of God, or Spirit-led for it came from a growing conviction about the Word, itself - a conviction that grows stronger day by day in this sinner's heart.

As inept and failure-ridden a follower as I undoubtedly am, the LORD loves my children deeply. And I see evidence of it all the time. He is a good and loving God! While some of the posts that followed my initial Facebook post depicted this whole scenario as me being somehow mystically led of God, the fact is that "the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord." And sinful though I am, that I stand clothed in the imputed righteousness of Christ permits me to assert that the Lord is leading - even me. However, as always, that leading's impetus begins and ends with the Word of God. To testify here to this truth, the very day I had purchased those Bibles I had reflected on Psalm 119 and the charge from Deuteronomy 6 to "teach your children." It was obvious, having meditated on on the Word that morning, what I needed to do. I do not know what prompted my son. But how good is God that even as He calls us as parents to obey Him, by the Spirit He grants our children a desire to obey Him, too!