Approaching Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

At 10:00pm I opened my Bible to begin praying and brainstorming a presentation for the upcoming Peacebuilders Initiative retreat in November. Notice I said “opened” my Bible. I then set the Bible on my bed and went to my desk where I promptly became distracted. Between each stupid YouTube clip I noticed that the time was going by really fast... 10:30pm.... 11:15pm.... midnight.... 1:00am... now 2:00am... this is the fourth day that I have attempted to sit down and do this.

At 2:00am I had to man up and face the Scriptures. I couldn’t afford to hide from them anymore. First, the deadline of this retreat is fast approaching. Second, if you are being repelled by Scripture, it’s probably a good idea to ask why.

My task is to preach a message of Good News to a group of young people who radiate holiness. I am as intimidated by the Miracles that they are as I am of God’s Word. Who am I --awkward Turtle and eternal weirdo-- to say anything, let alone preach the Gospel, to them?

My fear of approaching the Scriptures was that they would just remind me of how inadequate to this task I am. The Gospels are full of “love your neighbor”-s, “leave all that you have”-s, “take up your cross”-s, and a hundred other things that I struggle to do on a daily basis.

But at 2:00am I finally did approach the Scripture. I read the story of Peter’s  call in Luke 5 (it’s actually the story of Simon’s call... but you get it). A summary: Jesus approached the shore and called out to them... the fishermen threw their nets out on the other side of the boat per Jesus’ instruction... the boats almost sink with fish... and Peter is completely intimidated. Peter says “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Peter feels like I do, inadequate for the task at hand.

Jesus doesn’t just soothe Peter but he also raises the stakes: “Be not afraid, from now on you will be catching men.” Typical Jesus: say something nice and then say something terrifying!!!!

But the point of the story is that Peter listens. The story ends with the fishermen leaving everything they have behind and following Jesus. And 2,000 years later we know what Peter-- the self-proclaimed sinful man-- was able to do with Jesus’ help. Now I have to trust in what I can do with Jesus’ help.

And now it’s 3:00am. I’ve overcome my fear and tackled the Scriptures; I even feel pretty ridiculous for thinking Jesus wasn’t powerful enough to help me preach... 

But I still have no idea what I am going to do for this presentation.... pray for me!

Peace turtles!!! (Peacebuilders: if you are reading this... don’t worry... Jesus has got this... retreat is going to be amazing ;)