Enjoying the Many Flavors of the Word of God

People are asking me sincere questions these days—questions likely provoked by a combination of my age, my trials, and a desire to hear my heart while there is still time. There’s something about a sixty-five-year-old with stage 4 cancer, a rare and extremely painful bone disease, and a bombardment of utterly debilitating treatments that make folks want to find out more about you and how you have done and are doing life.

For me, it is somehow also helpful to think about their questions.

One of the most helpful questions thus far has been, “What’s your favorite text of Scripture?” Of all the questions to date, I think this has benefited my heart the most because answering this specific question is powerfully relevant to my present trials. For it is sacred Scripture, the Holy Bible, that is getting me through it all. Or better put, God is using the Bible to get me through it all.

The Bible is the voice of God. It is a written record of God’s thoughts and words and deeds. It is God talking to me for all of life. It is God speaking truth and grace to me with my double-diseased body and bleak future.

So this is, in fact, a wonderful question—and yet, hard! It is wonderful because it lets me reflect on God’s wonderful Word and how it has ministered to my soul, and it is hard because choosing a favorite text of Scripture is more difficult than choosing between a thousand different ice cream flavors.

Right now, all things considered, for today, in this very moment, as I live and breathe this very second, I’d probably choose the book of Psalms or Romans 8 or Ephesians 1–3 or Philippians 1:21 or Isaiah 40 or Revelation 21 and 22. You see how hard it can be.

The truth is that I’m a bit cautious about favoring one text over another since God intends them all to be treasured for the sacred and eternal value they all possess. The most obscure text of Scripture, rightly understood and contextualized, will say something to me of God and the gospel.

But still, I gladly admit that there are some Scriptures that speak of God and the gospel more clearly and beautifully than others do, and so they find a place among my favorites. But even then, my favorites will depend on my mood, whether joyful, sad, afraid, or mad, and on my circumstances, my needs, my longings, and even my doubts. Moods and circumstances change with the moment, just as my emotions change with changes in health—which leads to many varying favorites along the way.

When I am in the mood for mining deep and obscure things, I might favor studying the Old Testament laws to discover their gospel implications or ongoing relevance for my life. Or I might choose the book of Revelation to search out the mighty hints of hope that that mysterious book yields; or the book of Hebrews to see how the Old and New Testaments fit together like a thousand-piece puzzle. Or I might favor some of Paul’s writings, though I, like Peter, sometimes find them hard to understand (2 Pet. 3:15–16). In choosing such passages, those hard-to-grasp texts suddenly can become favorites in the moment.

When I am doubting God’s existence and providential wisdom or am pondering the mysteries of the universe, I favor Ecclesiastes.

When I have lost sight of God while in a storm of sorrows, I turn to Job 38–42.

When my sorrows are deep and my wait is long, or when my joys are great and my heart is full, the Psalms give me a voice for every sorrow or joy I may feel.

When I am insecure in my identity and relationship with God, I cling to Ephesians 1–3.

When I am feeling unloved and longing to be loved with everlasting love, I read Romans 8 from start to finish and repeat and repeat and repeat.

When I need to be comforted in who God is, I return again and again to Isaiah 40, revisiting its comforting introduction through its soaring end.

When I fear the enemy of my soul who hates the church, I look to Revelation, which reminds me of Who wins and who ends up crushed and everlastingly consumed in the eternal fires and ash heap of hell.

When I think about my cancer and the premature death that it might cause, I love Philippians 1:21—“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

When I want a simple expression of my Savior’s gospel love, I rest in 2 Corinthians 8:9—“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that we, through his poverty might be made rich.”

When I am discouraged by all the imperfections and failings of the church and by all of the “church hurt” that we all have experienced—both in feeling it and causing it—I go where my dad used to often go: Matthew 16:18, where Jesus says, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

You get the idea. Name the time and place, and my favorite text will likely be different from all other times and places. That is the abiding power and timeless beauty of God’s living Word. And it is why I love God, however imperfectly, as I do. It’s because his Word has told me in a thousand ways how great he is and how much I am loved.

I am sure that in offering this summary of favorite texts I have omitted others that deserve a place—and that those who read will have a wonderfully long list of their own. And as soon as this is published, I’ll probably have one hundred other texts suddenly rush into my head. But like I say, answering the question of my favorite Scripture text is like choosing one flavor out of a thousand.

And if ever there was a time when there was no wrong answer, this is it!

* Tim Shorey is one of our Gospel-Centered Discipleship staff writers. Tim is also currently battling stage 4 prostate cancer. On Facebook and CaringBridge, he’s writing about his journey. We’re including some of his posts in a series on our website called “The Potter’s Clay: Faith Reflections from a Cancer Oven.” You can read all the posts in this series here.