A piece of me was transformed this morning.
This transformation, I might add, began at 4 am so I apologize in advanced for any unnoticed errors. My sleep deprived self can’t comprehend much of anything grammar related at the moment - I’ll give it my best shot though.
But, anyway, this transformation needs a little bit of a preface.
I am the lightest sleeper. My dog can make one slight move in his crate and I’ll be wide awake and struggling to fall back asleep for a good thirty minutes, so when my husbands 4:00 am alarm went off (new year, new EARLY gym routine), I was awake and couldn’t fall back asleep because, well I was anticipating that Emmy would wake up soon for her usual 4:30/5:00 am bottle.
Mind you, I had already set an alarm of my own at 6:00 to get up and do my daily devotional because typically when Emmy gets up for her bottle, she goes back to sleep until almost 9.
So, scratch the original plan, let’s just stay up until Emmy wakes up. And, while I waited for that, I decided to at least open my Bible app & complete one of my daily devotions (I really wanted to dive into my Bible, but I just had a feeling Emmy would wake up and interrupt that, so I wanted to do that while I was more focused).
My devotion was about waiting. Specifically waiting when you feel called for more.
My. Life. I feel like the last year or so has been a waiting period.
This devotional talked about being present in our pasture, our waiting, and tend to our sheep. We have to recognize where God has us and tend to the needs there. God sometimes also introduces steps to take, like David. He was anointed King, but he had to tend to his sheep while taking steps towards becoming king.
A very timely message for my life.
Then, it mentioned James 1:2-4, “…So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let a test or a challenge do its work so you come mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
#1 WOW. This called me out because so often I tried to escape the pasture. I tried to get away with only taking steps, sometimes forces steps to get to where I ideally wanted to be.
#2 I thought to myself, why have I never heard this verse before? I am going to look this verse up later.
5:00 am rolled around & Emmy still wasn’t awake so I just laid in bed, thinking, and praying.. praying about this season of waiting and my pasture.
Lord, are you still calling me to tend to my sheep here? Are you still calling me to be present in my pasture? Or, is this season of waiting becoming a season of pursing? Are you ready to show me steps within my calling? Is this really my calling? Where should my focus be? God how me. Guide me. Correct me. Give me steps.
I asked God to show me the steps to take if it is time to step out of this waiting and move into opportunity - with my blog, with my love for ministry, and with my life. I told him to show me scripture that has meaning to this season or has a step for next one.
5:50 & Emmy finally wakes up. I feed her. She stays wide awake, causing me to assume she’s not going back down for her sleep stretch until 9:00 am. I guess digging into my Bible will have to come later.
I lay in bed, continuing my prayers, continuing to ask for guidance and a path to take, not realizing that I had actually rocked Emmy back to sleep.
6:20 & it was time to get to that Bible studying.
I opened my Bible, searching for James 1:2-4 & then opened my study Bible as well to gain some context and this is what I read in both (NLT & NIV versions plus/minus a few word variations):
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
Now, this I had heard before. Why did it sound so different before?
That is when I realized, it was a different version. I was reading it in NIV, but saw it in the devotional as the message.
I started comparing and contrasting the two versions, noticing that I began to see two different clear messages.
They both taught me in different ways.
Reading it the first way (from my Bible) reminded me that we will go through trials and when we do, we have to recognize the possibility to profit from it - learning the lesson! Troubles bring endurance, preparing us for the next season.
Now, reading the version I did in my devotional, I saw words like tests & challenges, pressure, and phrases like “faith-life is forced to open and show its true colors.” & “do not try to get out of anything prematurely.”
Through this, I recognized that our character is exposed during times of trouble. We cannot truly know our character until it is revealed by struggle. It is easy to be of good judgement during the GOOD, but what about during the trials?
WOW. blown away. But, I grew very curious. What do other translations say?
Before I knew it, I had about 6 notecards filled out, front & back, dissecting every word and phrase of a few different translations.
Then, I had a bigger, broader lesson that I learned from doing so.
You can check out this video to hear what that message was & how exactly I went about dissecting each verse.
But, the point of this post was this idea of multiple translations.
We get so caught up in this idea that different versions of the Bible are more correct or more accurate than others and I agree with this, to an extent.
After what I experienced today, I recognize that each version of the Bible is there for a reason. Each translation has a different message to share.
I don’t think it really matters what version of the Bible we are studying. And I say this because I think whichever version you are reading and the time that you are reading it, is for a reason. You’re reading it because that version has a specific way to speak to you.
And from experiencing a few different versions of James 1:2-4 this morning, I found some of the answers to my prayers.
I began to recognize why God called me to a season of rest. I saw that over the last 2 years there were trials, tests, and challenges that I needed to experience in order to be prepped and ready for His calling on His timing.
I discovered a new study method that WORKS well for me & one that I can share with people through Lines of Faith (you can watch a walk through of this method here) - A STEP FORWARD, y’all this morning I prayed for steps!
This correlates with what I said above, but I now have a study/guide/ebook in the works FOR YOU doing what I did this morning to multiple more verses with powerful message.
I also, heard God again for the first time with such depth. It had been a minute since scripture spoke so clearly to me.
I closed my Bible this morning with a confidence in my calling. Before I questioned what God was doing in my life, but now because of a few steps forward, I see the direction He is going to take me.
I am also confident in saying that this season of waiting may not be over, but is also progressing. Before, I would try to make steps towards growth and something would always hinder that growth (for GOOD reasons)! I was being tested. And now, I have been given opportunity from those trials.
It is now 9:00 am, Ems is wide awake & ready to play, and I am slowly fading but so ready to continue exploring scripture and opportunity for that spiritual growth within me.
So, it may seem like a tedious task, dissecting each version of a few verses, but I promise the outcome is more gratifying than you could imagine.
I left my Bible study today feeling completely renewed by the different messages those words spoke to my heart.
I felt different areas of my life being transformed by the same verse, but by the different meanings the words held.
Today I challenge you to allow your heart to be transformed by a translation.
Pick a verse & then search that verse in a different translation than you normally read.
Dig deeper. Define words. Draw parallels. Write it out. (if you want to see how I did it, watch it here). Then, reflect on what piece of you was transformed. Contrast how maybe different versions spoke different messages, but then also compare how they spoke similarly to you. Draw connections.
Then, share it with me below. Write about your experience with a different translation. If you choose to post it, Add #TranslationTransformation to it so I can check it out!
Can’t wait to hear how your heart was transformed by the words of His word today!
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