I’ve been wrestling lately.

No, no. Not THAT kind of wrestling. You won’t find me in ill-fitting spandex or strange headgear. It’s the kind of wrestling that happens in my head and in my heart.

And I think it’s been good for me, in spite of how frustrated I get sometimes.

I’ve been wrestling with some theological issues. Nothing of the “non-negotiable” variety, but ones where good theologians appear to come down on completely different sides of the fences. And where others might just shrug their shoulders and not get all worked up over them, for some reason God is drawing me to wrestle with them myself.

It’s hard work. I wonder, “Who am I to question these great scholars?”. But when I start thinking that way, I remember that I am just as worthy to search the scriptures as they are. It’s my Father’s book, after all. I am grateful for diligent men and women who have dedicated their lives to studying the Bible and who have spent years, decades even, making their work accessible to us common-folk.

But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have to study things for myself. It doesn’t mean that I am to accept their conclusions without checking them against the Bible on my own.

And God invites us to do that. He wants us to be like the Bereans, receiving the Word from those who preach and teach it, but searching the scriptures daily to test them for ourselves:

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Acts 17:11

So I’ll keep searching and wrestling. And though I don’t know where I’ll end up, I know God will use it in my life.

Wrestling can be good for the heart, and the soul.

A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, Proverbs 1:5

My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God Proverbs 2:1-5