When was the last time Scripture blew your mind?

One of the benefits of reading through the Bible each year is that you will inevitably land on something that you've read before.

You may find a certain story or passage so familiar, that you feel tempted to skip over it and move on to something that you find more exciting or new.

Do you know what can happen though, if you choose to dig in and battle the temptation?

Something incredible and life altering.

I remember the first time that I found myself in this exact place many years ago.

I was reading through the book of Exodus and had just gotten to the part about the Hebrews preparing to cross the Red Sea in an effort to escape the Egyptians that were in heavy pursuit of them.

You know the story.

After years of crying out to the Lord for deliverance from slavery, God's people were finally freed and on their way to the promised land.

I was in a hurry to jump to the part about when Joshua and Caleb came back from spying in the land of Canaan, and was about to leap ahead when something caught my eye.

Actually, it didn't just catch my eye, I became frozen and held captive by words I had seen numerous times before.

Right there in Exodus 13:17-18 where it said...in my NIV Bible... 17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." 18So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.

Now I'm no bible scholar or theologian by any means, but those 2 verses right there hit me hard and shook my soul.

Particularly where it said that the path to the promised land had a shorter route, but that the Lord purposefully chose to lead them instead by the long scenic route.

In only moments my mindset was shifted, my heart changed and my eyes opened to how awesome a God I serve and belong too.

Right there I saw His kindness displayed towards a people that would later hang His Son on a cross for my sake.

Right there I saw a God that was so concerned for our long term growth and deliverance that He would allow us to go through a harder thing if it meant that we would be better off later on.

He took them on the longer, most likely harder path, to keep them from being tempted to turn back when things got hard.

What I saw in those verses was how God had done this very thing in my own life.

He answers my cries for deliverance from my sin or life's trials, and then He walks with me through the fire caused by the consequences of my sin or the hardship from the trial.

He allows the suffocating, yet purifying heat to touch me just enough so that I won't easily turn back once I've been freed and delivered.

In those 2 verses I saw how a loving God gently protected those under His care from one trial that they were not yet ready for, only to allow another trial that He would equip them to experience with a greater chance of victory.

In those 2 verses I saw a thoughtful, merciful and personal God that cared for not only for the short term needs of safety for His people, but also the long term needs of spiritual growth and deeper trust in a God whose face they couldn't see.

Sometimes I'm tempted to skip my quiet times all together, and sometimes I'm just tempted to skip a familiar story or passage.

What I want to imprint on your heart and mine is that the Word of God is living and breathing.

This means that every encounter that we have with it has the ability and opportunity to blow our minds, transform our hearts and open our eyes to yet another truth or trait about who we serve and why we serve Him.

So, I ask you now, when was the last time God spoke to you through Scripture in a way that changed how you saw Him or how you saw a situation?

If it's been a while then run to the nearest bible, pray for a fresh understanding of a familiar passage and get blessed!