Why I Read My Bible

I've had the habit for years of reading my Bible daily, and I'm very thankful that it is a habit and I don't even consider not doing it. But why do I read my Bible? Why do I take the time when I could be sleeping or getting something else done to read? One of the reasons is that I never know when I'm going to need it! What good does it do to get in a tight spot or a catastrophe or sometime when I think I need God and then decide that I need to read my Bible? Am I just going to flip it open and read somewhere?

Sometime when I was pregnant with Micah I started reading through Psalm before bed. I used my little Bible that I carried to church instead of my normal Bible that I use for reading. I also used the same blue pen to underline and make notes (I'm weird like that). The night Micah was four days old I read Psalm 138:3. It says "In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul." That was the verse that really stuck out to me that night. Little did I know how much I was going to need it. That next morning we took Micah to the doctor because I knew something was wrong with him. He went from there to Corbin ER and then they flew him to UK. At that point we didn't know what was wrong with Micah or what was going to happen. The staff at UK was not optimistic about Micah surviving the next forty-eight hours. I had to lean on God. That verse was on my mind that whole day. God knew I was going to need it, and He worked it out so that I would read that verse the night before I needed it.

The night Micah spent at UK I read Psalm 139. That chapter has the verses that talk about how God formed us in our mother's womb and how we are fearfully and wonderfully made (13-16). As wonderful as those verses are, they aren't the ones that stuck out to me. Instead verses 11-12 gave me hope. "If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." God can make even the darkness light. Not only that but when everything seems darkness to me, it's light to God. "the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." God was not confused. He wasn't looking at Micah and thinking "Oh man, what am I going to do now??" He knew exactly what He was doing. In my confusion I could rest on God's presence and plan.

The Bible is so precious to me. And I never know when I'm going to need it! There's a very vivid reminder to me in my little Bible. When we packed to go to UK, I took my other Bible that I read from, not my little one. Psalm 138 is the last one that has notes in that blue pen. I did finish reading Psalm but not in my own bed in my little Bible with my blue pen. But the words are true anywhere, in the "normal" days of life, in the last few days of pregnancy, in the NICU of the hospital, or in whatever situation of life you're in. Go read it for yourself!