5 Reasons I Didn't Understand the Bible Until I Was 64
I never missed a Sunday. I own three Bibles. But if anyone asked what any of it meant, I changed the subject. I thought the problem was me. It wasn't.
Last spring we buried my brother in law. My grandson rode home with me. He is fifteen, and he was quiet most of the drive.
At a red light, he asked, “Grandma, why does God let bad things happen to good people?”
I said something about God having a plan, and I changed the subject. Again.
He looked out the window the rest of the way home. I gripped the wheel and felt like a fraud. In my family, I am supposed to be the one who knows the Bible. And I did not have an answer. Not for him. Not for me.
That night I lay awake wondering what was wrong with me. Was I just not smart enough? And under that was a worse thought I have never said out loud until now. If my faith was what it should be, wouldn't I understand by now?
It took one ordinary Tuesday to show me I had been wrong about all of it. But first, here are the five reasons I stayed lost for so long.
1. I Learned the Bible in Pieces
My Bible. Years of underlining, and I still felt lost.
After that night, I started thinking about how I had actually learned the Bible. A verse on Sunday. A story here, a psalm there. Little pieces, my whole life.
But nobody ever showed me where the pieces went, what came before or after, or how any of it connected to the rest.
It was like working a puzzle with no picture on the box. A thousand pieces, and no way to know what I was even building.
It was never that I couldn't understand. It was that no one had ever shown me how it all fit together.
2. All I Got Was More Reading
Everything I bought to go with my Bible. Never finished one.
I did try. For years, I really did.
I bought a study Bible so heavy I needed two hands. I started one of those read the Bible in a year plans and quit by March, twice. I kept devotionals on my nightstand. My daughter even put an app on my phone.
Every one of them handed me more pages and another schedule. Read this today, catch up tomorrow. It felt like homework I kept failing. It took me years to realize I was not the one failing.
I didn't need more to read. I needed to see the whole picture.
3. Then I Finally Saw the Whole Picture
Here is the Tuesday I mentioned. At my morning Bible study, a friend had a book called The Entire Bible Made Simple. She had been going on about it, so I picked it up mostly to be polite.
Because of my grandson, I turned straight to Job. I always knew Job was the one about suffering. I could never have told you what it said.
The pages I read twice and then sat very still.
Two pages. Who wrote it and when, the context, what the whole book says in plain English, what it is really about, and how it points to Jesus, with the story in pictures beside it. That was all it took to finally see what Job had been saying all along. The answer had been in my Bible the whole time. Now it was plain enough to give my grandson.
Then I went back to the front and flipped through it. Every book, Genesis to Revelation, with the context right there on the page, and for the first time in my life I could see how all 66 books fit together. After all these years, I was finally looking at the picture on the box.
It is not another devotional, and it is not more homework. It sits right beside the Bible I already own and simply shows me where whatever I am reading fits. I ordered my own copy that same afternoon.
See It for Yourself4. It Fit Into My Ordinary Days
To be honest, I expected this one to be on the shelf with the others within two weeks.
Most mornings I read one spread while I have my coffee. What I read depends on the week. When our pastor was preaching through Daniel, I read Daniel. There is no plan to fall behind on, and I think that is why I never quit this one.
My old notes never stayed with me. These pages do. Weeks later I still see where a story sits and how it points to Jesus.
Somewhere along the way it stopped feeling like homework and started feeling like time with Him.
5. He Asked Me Again
Almost a year later, I was driving my grandson home from practice. Quieter than the first time, he asked, “Grandma, do you still think God has a plan?”
This time, I did not change the subject. I turned off the engine in his driveway and told him what Job says. My own words. No book in my lap, no notes. Just an answer I finally understood.
I do not know if I sounded wise. That was never the point. He listened all the way to the end. Before he got out, he said, thanks Grandma. That was all. It was enough.
He must have told his mother, because my daughter started taking my copy home after Sunday dinners. So I ordered two more. One for her. And one for my sister, who has had the hardest year of us all. It felt like the right thing to put in her hands.
It Was Never Just Me
I thought I was the only one who felt lost in a book I had read my whole life. Reading the reviews, it turns out there were a lot of us.
I have been in church a good number of years and always tried to understand the context of what I was reading. Being able to see it in pictures with the context right there makes all the difference. Thank you for taking the time to put something like this together.
I will be honest, I have bought plenty of Bible study things that ended up in a drawer. I told my husband this would probably be the same. It is the only one I have actually kept up with, I think because you can just open it anywhere and understand.
The book is bigger and nicer than I expected for the price. The print is large and clear which my eyes appreciate. We got it before Christmas and it stays out in the living room.
The Entire Bible Made Simple
Never feel lost in your Bible again- See how all 66 books fit together
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Even Thomas Had Questions
Is it deep enough if I already know the Bible well?
Yes. Every one of the 66 books gets its own spread: who wrote it and when, what was happening at the time, the main characters, the key verses, how it points to Jesus, and where it sits in the whole story. It is not a summary of what you already know. It is the context around it, so the books finally connect.
Which translation does it use?
KJV. Every verse on the page is quoted word for word, with the explanation around it in plain everyday English. It never changes the words of Scripture, and every passage carries its verse reference, so you can read it alongside whatever Bible you use.
How big is the book?
It is a large format printed softcover, 134 pages, on A4 paper (about 8.3 by 11.7 inches). The large format is there for one reason: big, clear print that is easy on the eyes. The book itself is printed and ships to your door. Your three free gifts are digital and arrive by email, so you can start on them the day you order.
I have tried things like this before. How is this book different?
Most of those hand you more to read, and you still end up lost. This one gives you the context. Every book gets the same two pages, with the context and the pictures right there, so you can open to any book and understand where it fits. Keep whatever you already use. This sits beside it, and there is nothing to keep up with.