You have heard it said, “Life does not have a manual.”
I’m here to tell you, that is a lie. Life does indeed have a manual. It is tried and true. The Word of God will help guide you in every area of your life. There isn’t a challenge you are facing today that you will not find instruction for in the Bible.
Do you have a question over your marriage? What does the word of God say?
Do you have a question about work? What does the word of God say?
Do you have a question over your finances? What does the word of God say?
Do you have a question about friendships? What does the word of God say?
The list goes on and on.
The answers are all found in the Word of God.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. — 2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT
And…
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it. — Isaiah 55:11 NLT
“It always produces fruit,” not sometimes, not occasionally, not maybe, ALWAYS. (Isaiah 55:11 NLT).
I have experienced this TRUTH in my life.
Not long ago, I found myself exhausted and heart-broken in a puddle of tears telling my husband about the struggles I was having, as a result of the abuse I experienced when I was just a little girl.
I was born into a dysfunctional family. I witnessed my father hitting my mother many times, and between the ages of five and ten years old, a neighbor and an uncle molested me. For a long time, I didn’t know how deeply the abuse I experienced had scarred me. Based on my educational, professional, and personal achievements, I thought I had overcome my past.
It was within the stresses and pressures of marriage and motherhood that my scars became exposed. I struggled with my relationship with my husband. His voice triggered a fear in me that I didn’t understand at the time. I was angry and defensive all the time. He would say the wrong thing, and I’d explode in anger. He used to tell me, “Why are you so angry? I’m on your team. And, I’m never going to leave you.” Truthfully, I didn’t believe it and couldn’t let my guard down.
The day my first daughter was born, and I changed her first dirty diaper, I knew the abuse I experienced had wounded me profoundly, and motherhood was going to be hard. Cleaning and caring for her reminded me of how vulnerable children are. I became terrified that someone could harm her. Then, I felt ashamed for having those thoughts. I struggled with the feelings for years with both of my daughters but had no idea how to make them stop no matter how hard I tried!
That night, I confessed these things to my husband and began to crumble beneath the weight of the pain I still felt and carried secretly. I told my husband about the thoughts I was having around my girls, and I started to cry.
It’s not fair that I have these thoughts! It’s not fair that I can’t look at my girls and that I feel ashamed to bathe them! It’s not right! Am I going to live with the residue of childhood sexual abuse my whole life? Maybe! Maybe this will be a burden my entire life. Maybe I will struggle with this my whole life. God promised He would cleanse us, heal us, and set us free. He promised he would renew our minds. Where is that for me? That’s what I need. That’s what I need so badly!
I confessed my pain and cried out to God in surrender, proclaiming his biblical promises over my life, and He responded.
After everyone fell asleep that night, I walked into our living room to watch television. I desperately wanted to clear my mind and think of something different before going to sleep. God had other plans. As I went to sit down on our sofa, I sensed the voice of God in an obvious way.
Something inside me said: “Don’t turn on the TV. Open your Bible.”
I hesitated. I was exhausted from the emotional day I had had.
Again, I heard Him say: “Don’t miss this opportunity; your father has something to say.”
I decided to obey but told Him that wherever my Bible app landed when I opened it, that was what I was going to read and nothing more. I opened the Bible app on my phone and found it in Hebrews 10. I began to read it and knew that God had sent me there for a reason. In it, the scripture speaks of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sin. His body was the ultimate offering and the only sacrifice that can remove our feelings of guilt. He cleansed our sin once for all time through his death on the cross.
For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. -Hebrews 10:10 NLT
I read it and was shocked. God was speaking to me directly and clearly, giving me exactly what I needed to know. “Once for all time” were the words that stood out to me the most. “Once for all time.” I read it over and over again. And then it clicked — “Wait — that means…He has already taken this from me.” I needed to arrive at the point where I understood and embraced that truth. This one revelation transformed my faith and my life.
It was not only, the scripture in itself but rather the act of speaking the word of God into my life that unlocked healing-I could feel it in my bones that night! Something powerful happened.
I didn’t know much of the Bible at that point, but I had heard it said that He would cleanse us, heal us, and set us free and that he would renew our minds. The decelerations I made that night, are all promises found in the word of God. Take a look.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9 NIV
Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. -James 5:16 NIV
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. -John 8:36 ESV
Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. -Romans 12:12 NLV
Confessing my struggles out loud to my husband and crying out to god with an open and expectant heart, were what I needed for God to begin to move in my life. I woke up the next morning achy and exhausted, but I knew that day that I was knocking on the door of freedom and that I would soon walk through it.
He responded with Hebrews 10:10. That TRUTH was the key that unlocked my chains and set me free. Rather, it showed me that the gate was open all along. I just needed to walk through it.
I have not been the same since that moment!
I am a different woman today than I was before my healing began. My husband understands me better. I can communicate with more grace and kindness. I no longer struggle with thoughts of abuse around my children-although I remain vigilant for their safety.
I’m still a work in progress. There are still moments when I am less than kind. I still have triggers that I’m learning to manage with the grace and help of God. The difference is that I know now that He already cleansed me, healed me, and set me free and He is renewing my mind-teaching me to think and see in new and exciting ways-It is unlike anything I could have ever imagined.
It is imperative to a successful life that you study and know the word of God because when you do, it becomes part of your vocabulary and when you speak it into your circumstances, marriage, children, career, etc. that is when you will see His promises activated in your life.
The word of God is our MANUAL to LIFE.
Read it, know it, and speak it into your life, and you will experience miracles in your life — healing, peace of mind, joy, protection, stability, a healthy marriage —are all available to you, but you need to pick up your manual and apply it to your life.
We all begin somewhere. You do not need to be a Biblical scholar for the Word of God to be effective. Simply pick an area of your life where you would like to see some change and seek God’s wisdom in the Bible and study it. Then, speak it out loud in prayer, by yourself, or to others and watch it take life!