By Tom Ellsworth
My favorite passage of Scripture? I hem and haw and generally fumble trying to find the right answer.
What about John 3:16? Naw, everyone picks that one””be more original. All right, how about Philippians 4:13? Overused. OK, let”s try the Old Testament””Psalm 23? Did somebody die? That”s a funeral text. Sorry, I”ll say Revelation 3:20. Are you serious? You”re going to pick prophecy as your favorite?
The inner deliberation rages while on the outside I try to appear thoughtful and decisive. How does one choose a favorite passage? That”s like asking me to identify which of my grandmother”s pies or cobblers was best. My favorite was always the one I was eating at the moment. Similarly, my favorite passage is often the one I”m presently chewing on.
I marvel at the way God”s Word impacts our lives at every sector. Old passages take on new meaning at different times in my life. Depending on moment or mood, a passage I”ve read dozens of times will jump off the page as if I”m reading it for the first time.
I”m always surprised by such freshness, but I shouldn”t be. The prophet of Lamentations wrote, “Because of the Lord”s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22, 23).
If the Lord”s compassions are new every morning, I can expect his words to be as well.
Ministry frequently throws me a curve””a young wife with a new baby mourns the loss of her husband on the battlefield, a father of four unexpectedly loses his job, a 7-year-old dies of an inoperable brain tumor””and families turn to me expecting an answer about why God seemed to be absent at the moment they needed him most. My empty words bring no solace, but God”s Word is a fountain of hope. It can touch the heart as nothing else can.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:28-31).
And when I find myself at wit”s end, exasperated with life”s circumstances and no answers for my own questions, I turn to the book of Job and am reminded God doesn”t owe me any answers. I step into Job”s sandals and listen as God thunders, “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me” (Job 38:2, 3).
For four whole chapters the divine prosecutor puts a trembling Job (and me) on the witness stand of creation. I shudder at his words and slip away quietly, sufficiently reminded that God is in control and I”m not. Once again I”m content to let him run the universe without my help.
This past winter I was outside on a particularly cold, clear night. I craned my neck until it hurt trying to grasp the immensity of it all. As the celestial lights twinkled above me, the words of the psalmist came to mind, “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit” (Psalm 147:4, 5).
Ever since taking entomology in 4-H, I”ve been fascinated by butterflies. I believe God created the life cycle of the butterfly to point to something much greater than itself. At its birth, it”s nothing more than an eating machine, consuming as much food as possible to prepare for its eventual transformation. At the right moment the caterpillar attaches itself to a tiny branch and becomes entombed in its own private chrysalis. But what emerges from that cocoon looks far more glorious than what went in. Out of what appears the stillness of death comes an explosion of life. And on graceful wing the butterfly takes flight.
Each time one of them flits among the flowers around our house, I recall that magnificent conversation between Jesus and Martha in Bethany. While her brother, Lazarus, remained cocooned in his tomb, Martha bears her soul to Jesus:
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:21-26).
Moments later, out of the stillness of death came an explosion of life.
I can”t imagine facing the future without the assurance that Jesus has a monopoly on resurrection. If he can raise the dead, he can handle any crisis that stumbles into my path. Who knows what tomorrow may bring and what Scripture I will need to get me through? Undoubtedly, that one will become my new favorite passage.
Tom Ellsworth serves as minister with Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana.
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