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The Amish Voice 12
Penciled in the Margins of My Bible
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—by T. Suzanne Eller
So many of us, men & women alike have areas in our lives that are
broken and only our Heavenly Father can heal them.
Revelation 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
One day a friend commented on how “inked
up” my Bible was while pointing to the un-
derlined words, comments and prayers writ-
ten beside scriptures.
“I don’t write in my Bible in ink,” she said.
“I only write in pencil.”
She explained that she had a tough child-
hood. While growing up, there were many
people in her life that had let her down.
Eventually she let herself down, and it hurt
not only her, but her children and her mar-
riage.
One day she picked up a Bible and started
reading it. To her, many of the scriptures seemed
harsh, and she assumed those that were hopeful were meant for some-
one else. As she read, she wrote down comments. She wrote down
questions. She penciled in a picture of a broken heart next to one
scripture.
Then, over time, those scriptures started to make sense. What once
seemed harsh now seemed loving. “God wasn’t trying to take any-
thing away from me. He was trying to give me life,” she said.
The more she read, the more she wrote in the margins of her Bible,
but always in pencil. Question marks were erased and comments of
gratefulness replaced them. Scriptures that once seemed written for
others were claimed as her own. One day she erased the picture of the
broken heart and penciled in an image of a new heart — one that was
whole and beautiful.
In Revelation 21:4 we are assured that God “wipes” away old things.
That word means “to erase.” He is continual-
ly writing in the margins of our lives, eras-
ing tears and writing in joy. Mourning or
sadness ebbs away as He gently writes in
hope for tomorrow. What we might see as
permanent, God sees written in pencil.
Perhaps today you feel as if nothing can
change. Are you willing to invite God into
the margins of your life?
Your thought life. Your hurts. Your fail-
ures. Your feelings.
When we do, change begins. Old things pass away
and we are made new as God rewrites truth into those areas.
We become more like Him, discovering God has so much more for us
as He etches His love on our hearts and our lives.
Application Steps:
Change often begins when we show God those places where we still
doubt, where we hurt and where we desire new life. It’s not that He
doesn’t see them already, but when you and I invite Him in, it is a
huge step of faith!
Get alone with God. Be as honest as you can. Show Him the raw
places. Show Him your doubts.