Twisted Scripture

I have a confession to make. I used to be a Scripture twister. What, you may ask, is that? A Scripture twister is someone who takes God’s Word and twists it’s meaning until it fits what they want it to be about, rather than what it actually is about. It’s not something I was doing all that intentionally, nor something I even realized I was doing until I was many years into practicing this twisted practice.

Confused?

I’ll give you an example. It’s something I’m almost hesitant to share, simply because of the profound impact this verse has had and now has on my life. It’s about my life verse, Isaiah 6:8:

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!'”

It’s a wonderful verse about submission and surrender to God’s plan, and yet, I somehow got it twisted along the way. It was almost as if I took pride in this being my life verse, and how wonderful that made me, that I was so willing to be used by God. Not only that, but because of my great show of giving myself to the Lord for His use, I began to think that Him using me would equate to me becoming famous. Yes, I’m cringing just writing that, and hopefully you can now see why I was hesitant to share this less-than-stellar example from my own life.

The thing about this verse, is that I had taken it and twisted it to mean something that it certainly does not mean. Do you know what happened to Isaiah, the very man who prayed this awesome prayer? While not recorded in Scripture, it is believed by historians that his life was ended when he was sawed in half by the leaders of his day. Talk about a wake up call!

For so long I had distorted the concept of God using me to mean my fame, that I shied away from even associating with the verse altogether. Lately, though, God has been drawing me back to this, the original cry of my heart. It’s not that I ever had a bad intention about it’s fulfillment in my life, I was just confused and foolish in my interpretation of how it would play out. I’ve come to see that allowing God to send me can mean a whole lot of things, many of which will never add to the fame of my own name. Many times, allowing God to send me will simply mean being the one to serve in an area where no one else is willing. Sometimes, allowing God to send me will mean going through some dark valleys in order to come out the other side better equipped than ever to help others will will inevitably walk through those same valleys later. Sometimes, allowing God to send me will just mean being available should He need me, often doing something that no one but He will ever see.

So, you can see how I had become a Scripture twister. We’ve likely all been guilty of it at some point or another. Maybe as you were reading this today, you began to realize some Scripture twisting of your own. If not, maybe it’s time for you to go to God and ask Him to show you any places in His Word where you’ve twisted things to fit your desires over His desires. Let Him open your eyes to see the error of your ways, and then marvel in the superior insight and freedom that the true meaning of His Word can bring.

And just in case you were wondering, I’ve long ago realized that making my name known is nothing compared to making His name known. For me, feeling fulfilled is no longer about me. It’s about allowing God to use me, and resting in the knowledge that I am exactly where I should be in life, doing exactly what I was meant to do. Now when I pray for God to send me, I look with His eyes on possibilities of what that may look like. It’s never the same thing, and it’s never predictable, but that’s part of the joy of serving Him – every day is an adventure, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!