Journal Entry

Have you ever read a scripture, and felt that it was really speaking to you...and then read a completely different scripture in a completely different book of the Bible, and a similar message spoke to you? Here, let me explain myself for you.

Tonight, Caitlin, Alena and I attended a friend's church. They have a service for college and high-school age people on Sunday evenings, so we decided to go. It was very low key. Taco buffet, acoustic worship, and then a devotional. The way they do their devotional is very neat. There is a schedule that they follow that takes them through the Bible in a year (I know most of you have heard of it). But after they read a part, they pick a scripture, and apply the S.O.A.P acronym. (Scripture, observation, application, prayer). We read the assigned scriptures (I know I wasn't doing it right, but it turned out for the better), and then journaled our "SOAP". The assigned scriptures were Matthew chapter 7, and Psalm 31. I'll let you look them up yourself, because if I put them here...people would probably just glance at this post and not read it because it was WAY too long for their attention span. So. I read both chapters. The Psalm first. I had read it before, but not really looked deeper into the meanings. It was Psalm layout where David is praising, asking for his enemies to be taken care of, and talking about everything he was going through. As I was reading this, I started comparing my "bad" situations to the ones the Psalmist was going through, and my problems began to feel very insignificant. Well, at the very end of the scripture, as my pride was slowly being crushed (I can't count how many times I've been broken), I read this. "Love the Lord, all His saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud He pays back in full." Psalm 31:23

A double hitter. It is so amazing how God does that sometimes. The scripture could have meant something completely different to someone else, but I think that was what I needed to hear. Every time I pray for humility, I get it. I'll have to tell you an amazing story sometime, but not now. Moving on...

When I read Matthew 7, the part where it talks about getting the plank out of your eye before you remove the speck from your brother's really hit me. So many times if I would just humble myself and examine my own spiritual life, helping other people would be so much easier. Doing things with a humble spirit is SO important. So that's what my little rant up there was about.

The rest of the night was filled with listening to other people's "soap", which included "Hoperade" (I quote the lovely girl at the Bible study), two amazingly applicable food analogies, and a few other deep thoughts. I love being in a dynamic and focused group. We played pictionary after that, and though the other team dominated, we still had lots of fun. Next time we'll try and roll less ones, and more sixes. Even a four would have worked...but I'm not complaining. There's always next time...

-Paige