This is how knowing God's Word was vital in a critical situation...

Being an innkeeper for a week also taught me another lesson. The long hours that began at 6AM and ended about 10PM allowed me little time with the Lord, a brief conversation here and there. When moments did allow, I found myself too tired. It left me experiencing a void and a hunger for His presence, although I knew that He never actually left me. But I was feeling spiritual malnourished, especially in the midst of challenges. I needed time alone with the Father to recharge, so to speak. Just like Jesus needed time alone with God, we are no different. Jesus showed us that giving of Himself so completely, required that He fill Himself up to be able to continue to give.

Our flesh was created to require the nourishment of food and drink. It is essential for life and keeps us healthy causing our body to function properly. In the same way our spirit also requires nourishment, the nourishment of the word of God, intimate time with Him. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the God” (Matthew 4:4). But you must be fully persuaded that the Word of God is essential to your life. You must be convinced that the Word is your vital necessity. When God’s Word is not consumed on a regular basis, we are left to be spiritually malnourished, deprived of its essential goodness, and poorly equipped in faith as the word contains His faith. Just like the absence of food causes us to become sluggish and irritable, as we lack necessary vitamins and minerals that are essential to the flesh, we can lack necessary spiritual nutrition that is also vital. This lack impacts our thoughts, vitality and emotions. It can bring us to a weakened state which makes us vulnerable to the influences of this world and the enemy. In this weakened state we tend to believe lies, things that are contrary to God’s Word. In some instances, we simply don’t know what the Word says or we may have forgotten, or have been driven to doubt. We believe what we see with our eyes and experience with our senses because we are easily influenced in this compromised state. However, the Word provides a rock-solid foundation of hope to cling to. But we must spend time in the Word in order to be established on the foundation of hope and we must believe.

Scripture says that “God’s Word is steadfast and true”; “He keeps His Word even if the whole world is lying through their teeth” (The Message Bible: Romans 3:6). “His Word is a rock-solid guarantee, and He can’t break His Word. And because His Word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable” (Hebrews 6:18) This is a hope we can grab hold of and receive encouragement from (Hebrews 6:18). That describes a rock-solid foundation to me!

So, let’s consider this in a real-life circumstance. I will use a situation involving my husband Sam. Some years ago, he became very ill one night. Pain was raging in his upper abdomen and lower chest. The intensity grew. We prayed and off to a small local hospital we went. The conclusion was that he may be having a heart attack. He was transferred to a more comprehensive facility. A heart condition was ruled out and gall bladder disease confirmed with surgery prescribed. Surgery was planned quickly but this procedure was bumped due to a life-threatening matter for someone else due to an auto accident. Surgery was rescheduled for later that night. During the wait the pain intensified and his vital signs deteriorated. I watched and knew from my nursing background that something was terribly wrong. Instead of allowing what I watched with my eyes to derail my confidence in the fact that by the stripes of Jesus Sam was healed and many other Scriptures, I determined to keep my focus on the Lord and remained vigilant in prayer. Eventually, in this deteriorated state he was taken to the operating room. His gall bladder was gangrenous, and the timing of removal was critical to his life! The on-call surgeon that night was determined to be the best in the area. Sam survived the incident and the procedure without any difficulty. My calm was completely the results of God’s Word and the power that it released into our lives and the circumstance. I could have been moved by what I saw and experienced with my senses, but I made a decision that the Word of God was true, and I was standing on the foundation of what could not be shaken!

Starving yourself from the Word of God is never a good idea. A regular diet of Scripture builds you up. It conforms the mind to what He says and not what the world says (Romans 12:2). Either way you will be conformed; you get to choose which one you will be conformed to.

When you read something like John 10:10 and it tells you that Jesus came to give you life in abundance until it overflows, this should stimulate your interest to discover what is this abundance; what did Jesus come and do for me? What are these promises that are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20)? You read that you have an inheritance just like Jesus (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:17). What is your inheritance? Will you just let it sit there, all this extravagance from God available to you but not received because you don’t know what it is? That is what the Word is all about! It confirms the promises of God; what He has blessed you with and how you receive them. Don’t be like a man or woman who is thirsty and hungry, when all the while a feast is before them, but they never participate in the meal… God is an extravagant giver and has supplied everything that you need, it is part of His salvation package for you; the moment you believed in Jesus it was yours! He gave it by grace, a free gift, unearned and undeserved. Do you dare to discover the magnitude of the His blessing? It is exactly why Jesus died for you…He wants you to have life in abundance until it overflows!