Why We Hesitate to Open the Bible | Ep. 135

Do you ever want to read the Bible but find yourself putting it off? In this episode, we explore some of the deeper reasons we hesitate to open Scripture, from fear and shame to uncertainty and self-doubt. Anchored in Hebrews 4, we talk about how God’s Word reveals what’s happening in our hearts while also pointing us toward grace and restoration. If you've ever felt intimidated by the Bible or afraid of getting it wrong, this conversation will help you take the next step with honesty and courage.

👉 Listen to a related episode: Why the Bible Feels Hard to Understand (and Where to Begin) | Ep. 126

Transcript

Welcome And What We’re Building

0:00

This is episode 135, and I'm your host, Atoya, and this is Equip the Next, where you get equipped to lead, disciple, and move the mission forward. So are you hesitant about opening up your Bible? You don't want to miss this. And this is your host, Latoya. Listen, thank you guys so much for tuning in. I am so grateful to be able to share my heart with you guys. If you are new and you want to know a little bit more about Equip the Next, or perhaps you just want to check out our equip method, which is a Bible study method that we use along with others that you can use. But feel free to check out that bonus episode. It's the bonus episode on the equip method. But thank you so much again. Listen, I hope that you have downloaded that Bible study guardrail as well as sharing this content. If this podcast has been a blessing to you, please feel free to share. Don't forget to follow. It really does help us to be able to reach more people and to encourage more people to study the word.

Why We Hesitate To Read

1:47

So we're going to be talking today about removing barriers when it comes to studying the word. Now we're going to be kind of spending time in on this topic this month. And I wanted to talk today first about why we hesitate to even open up the Bible. Because we tend to do that. And when I say we, I'm saying just people in general have this tendency of hesitating to open to open up scripture. I actually did a podcast episode on stats and how many people actually read the Bible, how many people have read the Bible from cover to cover. We've we are actually reading the Bible chronologically in our team EFP group. So feel free again to follow up or subscribe so that you can get more information about that. And you can always just send us an email, hello at equithenext.com if you want to know more or ask more questions about it. But it's so important to understand scripture, and we're going to be spending time talking about this this month. So the focus here is to understand that internal hesitation can keep believers from engaging in scripture even when the desire is there. I need to pause there because it's not like you want to not read the Bible, right? Like people, if you're a believer or new, whatever, you have this desire to engage in scripture, but you might feel this internal conflict, right? This this internal hesitation that keeps you from actually engaging in scripture. So ask yourself this question: what is happening in me when I hesitate to open the word or open the Bible? Like really give yourself a chance to assess that. The next time you feel a desire to open up scripture and read the word, but you don't. I want you to write down what is going on internally that is causing that barrier, that hesitation in you to not want to open up the Bible. What is happening around you, maybe? You know, maybe something is going on in your life, or maybe you have doubts, or maybe you have fears. We're gonna talk about those things and more this month because it's so important more than ever that you, me, everyone has a relationship with the Lord for themselves and understand scripture on an individual basis. Yes, definitely corporately, but also on an individual basis as well. Um there is one well, yeah, one two verses that I want to gently highlight today.

Hebrews 4:12 And Heart Motives

5:11

This is gonna be a short episode, and I'm going to go to Hebrews chapter four. So if you could, if you're able to, I want you to go to Hebrews chapter four. And Hebrews is is a rather difficult book to study, but I want to focus on verses 12. Well, we'll yeah, I I'll just focus on verse 12. I'll just focus there. It says, for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit and of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Now, I'm not gonna do an exhaustive teaching on the book of Hebrews, but I wanted to highlight that because I want to remind you that the Lord knows our heart. The Lord knows your heart, our thoughts, our intentions. And God's word is able to judge those thoughts, those motives that have been concealed in our hearts. See, when you understand that his word reveals, restores, and renews, then you understand that again, the Bible is not about you, but it's about him. And sometimes that hesitation could very well be something that's going on in our hearts that is keeping us away from it. Again, I'm looking at internal conflict. We're gonna talk about the external side as well, but today I wanted to talk about the internal conflict that one faces. And opening up his word can actually reveal and pierce the heart, but it also restores and renews. Sometimes people are just simply hesitant from opening the word because they don't want to know the truth, because they know then they'll have to change. I've heard people actually say that. Some people say, uh have said in our um group, like, hey, you know, in the past, when I was a new believer, I really wanted to understand the Bible. I wanted to open the Bible, but I didn't want to be held accountable. I want to remind you though, that we all have done something that we should be ashamed about, right? We all are working this together. And I don't want you to hesitate from opening the word because of some internal things going on in yourself that you're struggling with and you're battling with. He just wants to have a relationship with you. The good thing about truth is that even though people don't want to admit it because then they have to change, once you admit the truth, don't you feel better? I know when my son um admits that he has done something wrong, he feels better about it. Sure, he doesn't want to say it because he knows that there's going to be a consequence, but he feels better. A lot of times, especially when it comes to sin, sin will make you feel like you can't go to God. But we have to be reminded that Jesus died so that we can go to God because we are all sinners. But we can go to God and He has washed away all of that. So the internal conflict in people and the hesitation is usually they don't want to face truth sometimes, but also it's because they think they're so far from him that they can't get to him and he doesn't want to listen. But his word, again, it reveals these things, it reveals who he is, it reveals who he is in you. If if you are an unbeliever or if you're witnessing to an unbeliever, it reveals who Jesus is, it reveals why they need him, then it restores and it renews you. So it's very important to face that internal conflict and move forward.

Desire Versus Action And Fear

9:45

Because listen, desire does not always lead to action. You might have a desire to read the Bible, you might have a desire to do that hobby, you might have a desire to, you know, complete a goal or run a 5K, I don't know. You might have a desire to do that. But just because you have a desire, if you don't have the action attached to it, it's just a desire. So when you have a desire to read the word, you can desire all you want, but if you don't open it up and read it, sure you're not gonna understand everything. That's why there are people there to help you. We're gonna talk about that later on in this theme going through this month. But we have to take the desire to want to learn and grow and actually apply it. See, internal internal dialogue shapes engagement. It really does. And so that's why we have to change our thoughts. We have to focus on Christ and not on ourselves. There was one um guy a long time ago, I was uh like taking a course in something, and he was basically saying that a lot of times, you know how like if you're speaking or whatever, you might get nervous before you go on in front of people. That's anybody. I don't care how much how good you are, everybody has a little bit of jitters. But he was saying that the moment that you realize that it's not about you, you're not on stage or you're not speaking to help you, but you're helping others and you put others before you, you don't get nervous any. Like you're you that those nerves, they go. And so the internal dialogue shapes our engagement. So you have to change your thought process to not focus on what you, the negative, not focus on, you know, you're not you're not good enough, to not focus on whatever else isn't going on internally, and change that because you want to grow in him, you want to know about him, you want to really know who God is, really know about his son. Fear of misunderstanding or getting it wrong can also create resistance. It really can. A lot of people are like, you know, I don't understand what I'm reading. But at the same time, those people don't want to interact or don't want to fellowship with other people. So, of course, if you're by yourself, it's gonna be difficult. Even if you just have basic dialogue, like we have the team EFP group here. Um, we talk about the Bible together, we have discussion. You might have a local church you go to, you might have a Bible study you go to. That's where it starts. If you have a question, it's not saying that everybody's gonna know the answer, but that's where it starts. Engaging with one another, engaging in scripture, not trying to do it by yourself and not trying to isolate yourself from it. But that fear of misunderstanding it, getting it wrong, that creates that resistance. We also need to really look and assess and say, you know what? We may feel unprepared, you may feel unworthy or unsure before you begin. We all do, but the truth is, and this is where the Christ thread comes in, is that the word reveals its light, it's an invitation. The gospel, the simplicity of it all points to Christ. That is where we start, and that's so important that you have that foundation so that you can move past. If you ever watched a movie, they always have the star, whatever, has like this internal conflict that they have to overcome in order to be that hero, in order to be, you know, to finish that race. You have to be able to face the internal conflict head on so that you can engage in scripture.

Pause, Pray, Do It Scared

14:06

So listen, I know I told you to like kind of assess when you have that hesitation, but I also want to challenge you with this. When hesitation comes, I want you to pause and ask God to help you see clearly instead of pulling away. Okay? I'm gonna repeat that. Write it down. When hesitation comes, I want you to pause and ask God to help you see clearly instead of pulling away. Um I don't know who said this, but I say it too now. Do it scared. Do it scared. Do it you with an under everyone who started out in the Bible did not know what was going on, and we still don't, because it is a living, growing, breathing document, basically, you know. Not that it changes, but that it's you you just get more and more, and you can never outgrow it. And so we're always learning. So don't let that stop you, and don't hesitate when opening scripture. Well, that's it for today. Thanks for listening to the Equit the Next podcast. If this episode blessed you, I'd appreciate it if you leave a review and share it with someone who can use a little encouragement. Now grow in God's word and lead boldly.