The Relatability of the Bible
One of the things that makes the Bible so real to us is the relatability of the stories it gives us. On some level, each of us will no doubt have very similar issues as those that we read about in these stories.
What got me started down this path was considering the story of Job. Many times, we use him as an example of perseverance, but I believe that he can also be used as a microcosm of how we address the problems of this life. We will all have trials at some point in our lives that may cause us to question our faith. Maybe not to the degree he faced, but things that are horrible and thoroughly test us nonetheless.
When that happens, what are we going to do? What will be our reaction as it relates to God and our spiritual lives? Are we going to blame God and turn our backs on Him? Are we going to curse God and spiritually die? Will we use our misfortune to continually pontificate on the injustice of our dilemma? Or will we use it as an opportunity to look to God for comfort and look to His word for guidance, to help see us through to the other side?
And Job is just one example that we could look at. Could we look to the story of Solomon about issues in dealing with success? Or a study of Moses on how to deal with frustration? Or a study of Paul on how to deal with major life changes? Or a study of Joseph on how to deal with times when we feel abandoned? Or David on how to overcome when you do some horrible, sinful things. And the list could go on and on.
No doubt, our stories will never completely parallel the events that these people found themselves in. But the struggles of their lives in many ways are no different than the struggles that we continually find ourselves in as we do the best that we can to live a godly life.
From the Bible, we learn that being a follower of God doesn’t mean you get a free pass from the problems of this life. It doesn’t mean that all your diseases will be healed or that you will never be faced with difficult times or decisions. It doesn’t mean your financial state will always come up great. And the list of possibilities goes on and on, just as the examples of Biblical stories go on and on for us to learn from.
But what it does promise us is that the problems that we have will not follow us once we leave this life. God has promised a place for those who will obey Him that doesn’t include the problems of this life. And if we can remain faithful till the end, we know that there is a place prepared for us that will be worth the perseverance needed to survive today.