From Meredith:
Since you asked... Favorite Bible verse currently and as you have grown up. At different times in my journey I have focused on different verses but I have always had a few that I have relied on. Is that true for you?
Absolutely! Like Meredith, I often focus on a few verses during different seasons of my life. When Emma was a baby and Audrey was a toddler, a friend gave me a shepherd's pie for dinner with Isaiah 40:11 written on the card: "He gently leads those with young." It was one I quickly learned and held on to during sleepless nights and days of managing two small children.
And just recently, I learned that the original Hebrew word for lead is nahal, which means to give rest, to lead with care to guide to a watering place; to cause to rest, refresh; to journey by stations or stages.
I love that last part and have been thinking about it a lot lately--that God leads me through each stage of childhood--early elementary school for Emma and coming into that preteen phase with Audrey. It's a good reminder that I don't need to live in fear of some of the stages that are coming (aaaah! teenagers!) because he will lead me through each stage as he has in the past. We made it through the terrible twos (though I think three was harder than two) and we'll make it through whatever comes next!
Recently I've spent some time in Psalm 23--a familiar passage that I love. It always makes me think of spring for some reason. I've enjoyed going back to the Hebrew and seeing the definitions for the words (you can do this at blueletterbible.org). Seeing the definitions in depth has made the psalm come alive in a whole new way.
I have lots of other favorite verses underlined and marked in my Bible. I'm a huge fan of writing in my Bible--to put names and dates next to verses so I can go back and see how God has kept his Word, answered prayer, and been faithful to me. If I don't mark them, it's all too easy to forget how God has acted on my behalf. This way, just flipping through I see evidence of his goodness and praise him all the more.
Here's an example. Psalm 77:13-14 is underlined: "Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are th God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." Next to it is written "3/04 for Toben." I wrote that during a time in our lives when we desperately needed a miracle, when we needed God to display his power in a tangible way. Toben had just been diagnosed as being bipolar and our lives had flipped upside down. Each morning, the thought of just getting through the day with some sort of normalcy seemed impossible. I was choked by bitterness and anger and hope seemed just out of reach.
A year later, I was in Bible study when we were told to turn to Psalm 77:13-14. God had indeed displayed his power in our life and I was thrilled to share with my group, "God has done this for us!" The doctors had figured out a good combination of medicines and we could see light at the end of the tunnel of darkness we'd been living in for so long. God had uprooted bitterness from my heart and tenderness was slowly becoming more natural with his help. The women in my group praised God with me and a new entry is penned next to the verse: "3/05, How God has kept his promise!"
Every time I flip past those verses I'm reminded that God hears my prayers and acts on our behalf.
While I've often wished for one verse to be my favorite, I can't choose just one. The great thing about God's Word is that it's always new and fresh and applies to whatever is going on in life. I love it all!
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