Introduction
The bible refers to different points in time in our lives, good or bad, as seasons. This means that everything has and end and is temporary. However, how we handle circumstances during these points in time can have longlasting effects on our lives. The word of God says, ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ and because there is nothing new, it means that we can find the outcome of decisions and actions documented by scriptures. However, one of our biggest challenges as believers is maintaining the drive and motivation to find these scriptures. The second challenge is in understanding these scriptures and using them appropriately.
Fear God
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Proverbs 9:10
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, fear can be defined as having profound reverence and awe for someone. In this case, fear refers to having profound reverence and awe for God.
In is not about being afraid and more about respect and reverence. Think about the CEO at a company or the Judge in a Courtroom. We fear these people because of what their position and authority represents. It is not that we are afraid of them but our actions are in consideration and acknowledgement of them. God, is a being that is above them, yet we do and say anything with no consideration of him. We can’t pretend to reverence him like we can do with humans when they can’t see or hear us. God sees and hears all things and therefore there is nothing that we can do in secret that is a secret to God. That is why, our entire lives will reflect the fear of God if we fear him.
How will the fear of God order your steps? In order to demonstrate reverence and respect for God it is important to know God. The only way to know God enough to do what he deems as righteous is to make a habit of reading his Words. Once this becomes a habit then we’ll make a habit of checking scriptures that will give us an answer for questions in life’s different seasons.
Understanding
The second portion of the Proverbs 9:10 says that understanding will come when you know the Holy One. This means that we MUST first know the Holy One before we will be able to make sense of the information we’ve received from him. The next question then is, how do you get to know the Holy One?
Every turbulent circumstance we endure tests our faithfulness to God. Think of the story about Job’s faithfulness. God watches how we respond and reminds us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 about his grace. To Paul he said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” In James 1: 3-8 he also says that the trying of our faith worketh patience. God stands by his people and takes action for us if we maintain an open line for communication with him. It is for that reason why, in Ephesians 6:17 it says, “And take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
With a sword, we can cut down our enemies and it is exactly what we do in our turbulent circumstances. But this is not the only purpose of the word of God embodied in scripture.
Revelation of His Will
“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask we know that we have the requests which we have asked from him.”
1 John 5:14-15
“If it is in your will then let it be done.” This was a phrase i grew hearing my seniors say at teh end of their prayer and it always seemed natural. Only as I studied and prepared to write this blog did the weight of it dawn on me.
Ask yourself, where can I find the will of God for my unique life? How do I know what the will of God is? Can the scripture which documents the life of others reveal God’s will for my life?
The short answer is yes. Remember that there is nothing new under the sun. It doesn’t mean you were reborn. It just means that others were born with your purpose at a different point in time. They may or may not have fulfilled that purpose but we can certainly see the conseuqences and or rewards in scripture. We can see God state his will throughout the books in the bible or we see it unfold in the lives of different characters. The word of God is our legal document that we can use to converse with God and inform the enemy of God’s will for our lives.
The second purpose of the word of God is to reveal to us the will of God and for us to pray back unto God his will for us. 1 Thessalonians 1:16-18 encourages the same and reminds us also that it is never God’s will for us to suffer and be unhappy and therefore it says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
Application of God’s Word
Having the information and recalling it is just one spectrum of the learning pyramid and is the lowest of the 5 according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. As a teacher, this is something to pay attention to when preparing students for assessment in a subject area. Gradually, we build them up by requiring them to Recall/Remember, demonstrate their Comprehension, Apply the knowledge then Create, Evaluate or Analyze it.
Blooms Taxonomy diagram below retrieved from, 4.2 Effective Questions – Student Success (opentextbc.ca) from March 4, 2024.
If as humans we’ve developed this method, then wouldn’t you expect that the creator is far more adept in formulating life-changing assessments in our lives? So, let’s not grow weary but use the information that we will find in the words of God to overcome our circumstances and know that Romans 8:28 still holds to this day. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called to his purpose.”
Finally, let us be mindful of Proverbs 1:7 which says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Let’s not be fools, but thirsty for knowledge and know that wisdom begins with God.
