Misinterpreting Scriptures can keep us stuck
Why Misinterpreting Scripture Can Keep Us Stuck
Have you ever felt stuck despite being a church going, Bible reading Christian? You are not alone, many believers reach stagnant seasons for many reasons… Misinterpreting scripture can be just one of these reasons.
Today I want to share with you a story that I’m not very proud of as a Christian. For many years I was stuck in life using religion as an excuse for my idleness. The Lord in His great love and mercy delivered me from this horrible and twisted perception of His word by leading me to sound biblical messages. My mindsets and way of life needed to be recalibrated to His truth.
A Season of Stagnation: My Story
As I have shared with you on my previous blogs, after having to move back to Guatemala from the United States where I studied, worked and lived for 6 years, I entered a season of idleness and stagnation. I was not working and had nothing going on for myself. I was literally “a stay at home daughter”.
I was feeling purposeless, ashamed and like a complete failure because nothing was working out for me. My life was not looking the way I had envisioned it would be at my age. Meanwhile, I was still a Christian attending church every Sunday and Bible study during the weekdays.
Since I had nothing going on for myself, I decided to start watching a lot of End Times prophecy messages and updates. I watched at least one of these messages a day for about 3 years.
There is nothing wrong in watching these messages because we are indeed living in the last days. I firmly believe that we are now closer than ever to the rapture as we are starting to see the signs of the End Times rapidly accelerating in the world. The problem was the way I was using the excuse of the rapture and the signs of the End Times to become entirely complaisant and comfortable in my stagnation.
Misusing Prophecy: Finding Excuses for Stagnation
I was in no relationship, had nothing going on in my career and life in general. It really was a dark season where I was feeling hopeless, unable to see a way out of my situation. So in order to start feeling better about myself, I began to manipulate scripture to validate my stagnation.
I started to support my idleness with the excuse that it was unnecessary for me to live life and fight the slumber I was in because Jesus could come at any moment in the rapture. I was looking at the rapture as the answer that was going to save me from my misery so I didn’t have to do anything to come out of it.
Fixated on the fact that things were looking bad around the world and they were only going to get worse as we approached the tribulation, I was not even trying to do something with my life. I used inflation, war, and the spiking of evil all around as excuses of why I was better without a job, starting my own business or getting married. If everything was looking like doom and gloom, I didn’t even want to think about raising a family in such horrible conditions.
When people asked why I didn’t have a job or if I ever wanted to get married, I would list all the horrible things that were happening as an excuse of why I was the way that I was. Deep down, I was using the End Times as an excuse not to come out of my stagnation and start doing something productive with my life. I was hoping for the rapture to save me from my misery thinking that was the only way out of my problems.
The Turning Point: Realizing the Misinterpretation
After many years of adopting this mentality, one day I started to feel a heaviness upon my heart. I asked the Lord why I was feeling this way and He started to speak into my heart that He was not pleased with the way I was living. I started to feel a pressure to come out of that slumber and stagnation that was holding me back.
At that moment, I felt strongly that the rapture was not the solution to my problems. The rapture is meant to save us believers from a time of great judgment and tribulation upon the earth. It is not intended as an escape to our personal issues, disappointments and misery. Then I realized that all along I had been misinterpreting End Time theology and using it to defend a lifestyle that was completely wrong that doesn’t align with the word of God.
Have you ever misinterpreted scripture using it to defend a wrong or sinful pattern in your life?
The Dangers of Misinterpreting Scripture
Misinterpreting scripture like I was can be dangerous taking us down a path of bondage. Because we are doing the right thing by backing our lives up with scripture, we tend to think that we are living righteously pleasing the Lord. Meanwhile, we are doing the complete opposite of what the Lord requires of us.
This religious spirit can be very tricky. It fogs our sight making it hard for us to discern that we are actually living in error. The spirit of religiosity can also lead us to a state of spiritual slumber that will make it hard for us to recognize God’s plan, will and purpose for our lives. Therefore, our lives become stuck.
Are there beliefs or mindsets that have kept you stuck?
Finding Freedom Through Sound Teaching
In His great love and mercy towards me, the Lord redirected me to listen to sound biblical messages concerning how we need to live and conduct our lives in these last days. My mind needed to be detoxed and renewed from the mindsets and beliefs that were keeping me stuck. I needed to learn that we need to occupy ourselves fulfilling our calling here on earth as we await His return.
Jesus Himself teaches us this principle in The Parable of the Ten Minas. “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:23). Jesus gives each one of us gifts and talents we need to put to good us here on earth as we await His return. This is being a good steward of the things He had given us.
For us to occupy correctly, we need to first be healed, delivered and restored by the Lord from the things that are keeping us bound. My two previous blogs “The Journey to Becoming Unstuck Begins with Healing” and “Are you Ready to Start Experiencing Freedom from Fear Today?” are great tools to help you embark on the journey of healing and restoration. They will shine light into areas of your life where you might be feeling stuck for you to break free from what might be holding you back.
A Call to Seek Biblical Truth
We need to ask the Lord if there is any error in our beliefs and understanding of scripture. If so, ask Him to reveal and shine light to what that is and let Him point you in the right direction by leading you to sound Biblical teachers and scriptures that will debunk the erroneous mindsets and beliefs that have been keeping you stuck.
The Bible tells us: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
If you, my friend, have been feeling miserable looking for a way to escape your life like I was, I encourage you to:
Reflect on your interpretation of scripture.
Seek sound biblical teaching.
Pray for guidance and wisdom.
After I followed these 3 steps, the Lord removed the blindness of my spiritual eyes and brought me out of the spiritual slumber I was in. I was finally able to move on with my life by starting a business and this ministry “A Voice For The Kingdom”.
I found meaning and purpose to my life as I started to occupy myself with the talents the Lord had given me while awaiting His return. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.
Jesus wants to deliver and restore you to live a happy and fulfilling life doing what you were created for.
I hope this word blessed you and encouraged you.
Much Love,
Jackie