What to Do When a Bible Verse Bothers You

Every long-term Bible reader hits verses they struggle with. A command that sounds harsh. A line that seems to contradict something you were taught to believe about God. The pull is to slide past it and stick with the parts that comfort you. Most of us have a private list of verses we've been avoiding for years. Bart hears it often. People bring him the verse that bothers them, half expecting him to be shocked, and he tells them: don't skip it, stay with it.This episode opens with Martin Luther, a monk desperate to be right with God, who came to Paul's phrase "the righteousness of God" in Romans and heard a verdict he could never meet. He said he hated that verse, and hated the God he thought it revealed. Most people would have turned the page. Luther couldn't. He kept circling back to the words that tormented him, trying to understand what Paul meant.The Bible itself admits some of it is difficult. In 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter says that some of what his beloved brother Paul wrote is difficult to understand, and that unstable people twist it to their own destruction. Notice that an apostle, writing Scripture, names the difficulty rather than hiding it. So if you have felt faithless for struggling with a verse, let that go. Peter gives one warning and one instruction: don't twist the difficult parts to mean whatever you want, and stay grounded while you keep reading. His answer to a troubling verse is to stay with it, on solid ground, until it opens up.That is the choice when a verse bothers you. You can turn the page, or you can dig in. Study it, read what comes before and after, and find out what the words meant to the people who first heard them. Bring your questions straight to God, who is not nervous about them. Some of the growth He has for you is buried in the verses you'd rather skip.That is what happened to Luther. Slowly, then all at once, he saw he had been reading the phrase backwards. Paul was describing a righteousness God gives as a gift, received by faith in Christ. The standard Luther had been straining to reach was one God had already provided. The verse that felt like a death sentence turned out to be the doorway to grace, and it lit the Reformation. He found his way to grace by staying with the verse he had wanted to avoid.BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:Why struggling with a difficult verse is normal, and named in Scripture itselfWhat 2 Peter 3:15-16 says to do with the passages that are difficult to understandA practical way to go toward the verse that bothers you instead of skipping itThe verse that bothers you is one to stay with. God isn't afraid of your questions, and He often grows you most through the passages you'd rather skip.Share This Episode:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/305Need Prayer? Leave me a voicemail:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemailWant to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/Rate and Reviewhttps://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/Connect with BartFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylivesWebsite: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.comFeeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/subscribe.