“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
“What are your qualifications for this position?”
If you’ve ever been interviewed for a job, you were likely asked a similar question to the one above. It’s a fair question. Employers want to know that their potential employees can efficiently handle the various tasks they’d be hired to carry out.
And even after the hiring process, employers will likely want their new employees to continue learning through professional development. Certain aspects of their job will likely change and grow from when they’re first hired—new techniques, updated systems and processes, etc. The employees will have to adapt, learn, and grow. If they don’t, they’ll be overwhelmed by the pressures of an ever-changing work environment, and they won’t be able to do their job to the best of their ability.
Employers want their employees to be qualified to carry out their work. They also want their employees to know they are thoroughly equipped to do their job. They want them to be confident. And if they’re not, then the employers will do whatever they can to ensure that the employees get the education and training they need.
Our relationship with God is not that of an employer/employee. He’s our heavenly Father. We’re his children through faith in our Savior Jesus. He hasn’t hired us to work for him, but he has given us work to do: we’re his witnesses in a sin-darkened world, living our faith and shining as lights in a dark place.
Witnessing to others and living as Christians in a sin-darkened world is messy. We face situations and circumstances that sometimes have us feeling overwhelmed—unprepared and unequipped.
What do you say to someone who just lost his child in a tragic accident? How do you respond to a friend who confesses that she’s struggling with an addiction? How do you comfort someone who discovers that he has a debilitating illness and might not live to see another week?
These—among many others—are the moments we face in life. And our God does not leave us unequipped and unprepared to handle such circumstances. He gives us his Word. Why?
So that we may be thoroughly equipped.
No, Scripture does not always give us specific answers to some of the questions and hurts caused by sin. Nor should we feel that we must come up with an answer or a solution to someone’s problem on our own. It’s okay to say, “I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through right now . . . and I don’t know exactly what to say, but I’m willing to sit here with you and listen.”
Then as—and when—appropriate, we can share what we do know from Scripture—the ultimate answer to all of life’s questions and hurts caused by sin. God’s Word points us to our Savior Jesus. And we can direct others to him as well.
As Paul wrote to Timothy, God’s Word is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. God gave it to us so that we know who our Savior is and so that we can help others know him too.
In his Word, our loving God and Father equips us to live as his children.
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An Ever-Present Help in Trouble contains 40 devotions filled with gospel comfort. They share God’s love and providence with those suffering from life’s disasters, reminding believers of God’s promises of strength. The book also features helpful prayers that ask for God’s aid in various times of trouble and disaster.
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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