“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”         –2 Timothy 3:16

We’ve all heard the old saying that when the student is ready, the master will appear.  But have we all applied that to our study of the Bible, to our relationship with God?

Many times I’ve read the Bible and I’ll come across a passage that I see in a whole new way.  The words on the page haven’t changed.  I have.

In daily life, we have experiences, learn new things, gain new grasps on old situations.  We look back and see our pasts differently.  We look at relationships and events going on presently and see them in a different light, too.

The same is true of reading the Bible.  We might read a passage five or fifty times, but on the 6th or the fifty-first, we see something in that same passage that we have never seen before.  This has happened to me repeatedly over the years, and each time, I feel that jolt of insight come with my awareness.  I sit surprised, asking myself, “How on earth did I miss that?”

The Bible is inspired writing, and the Scriptures have many layers.  We grasp what we need and are prepared to receive at a specific time.  It isn’t the 66 Books of the Bible that are limiting us, it is our own understanding, our own need.

Just as a baby must crawl and then walk and then run, so too is our grasp of what the Scriptures offer to us.  As we learn and grow and seek understanding, we gain deeper insight.

The same is true in our relationships with God.  He reveals in ways we understand.  I think of it like this:  If God spoke to me in a foreign language, I’d stand and stare and be totally lost.  But if He speaks to me in English, I hear and understand.

No matter how many times I’ve read the Bible, I always gain from it.  Some new insight, another layer of that onion peels back and offers me a deeper understanding.  Or I gain a sense of hope, of serenity, of peace.

The Scripture isn’t limited in its ability to reveal and inspire us.  To comfort and reassure us.  To guide us from days of trouble and turmoil and darkness into peace and calm and light.  Neither is God.  He is steadfast and doesn’t change.  He is the Master,

And just as we gain new insights to familiar Scripture in ways we understand and need at that specific time, we gain new insights to God.

When the student is ready, the Master appears.

Blessings,

Vicki