Sincerely Studying Inductively

I was introduced to the Inductive Bible study method by an older, mature Christian friend back in 1996. I had been part of numerous women’s Bible studies and even had led some of them, but I never was satisfied. So often, it felt like a pooling of ignorance and just an expression of how we ‘felt’ about a passage.

Finding a method that would bring focus on the intended meaning of a passage increased my assurance that we could understand the message that God intended us to understand and certainly increased my passion for Bible study. The excitement of knowing that one could KNOW what God was saying through this ancient text! How cool is that?

At first, it was challenging to do the slow-down that observation requires, but I came to understand its value when I realized that I had missed salient points by skimming. And making lists was another part that seemed repetitive and tedious — until I started gaining insight into what God was revealing when I studied the lists. These authors had definitely been inspired!

Once I had gained some experience with Inductive Bible Study, my friend started challenging me to lead a study. She wisely had me get my feet wet with just one lesson at a time and would de-brief with me afterward. By 1999 my circumstances changed, and the Lord brought another friend into my life, who also had done years of Inductive Bible Study. We started a women’s Sunday School class, with only two to three women attending, praying for more women to develop a hunger to study God’s Word with us. Those were hard years with very few tangible results. Many women would start a study but fade away in a few weeks — not willing to put in the time needed to study or disappointed that the time was not spent discussing the latest church or community issue. Convinced that this type of study was what we needed and what other women in our church needed, we kept on offering the class.

As the years went by, a core group of women developed. Their enthusiasm and dedication to sincerely studying and praying together became a beacon of light and hope to many others. The opportunity to be part of this group has been a highlight of my life for the past twenty years. These women have sustained me through some difficult times and encouraged me to keep going by their trust in God’s goodness and passionate prayers to the God they were coming to know and love the Saviour more and more.

We are a very mixed group of women from about thirteen countries. We have seen women with a very traditional understanding of their faith as well as women with a very liberal understanding of their faith all find that they are gaining insight into the message of the Bible. Many times it would overturn what they thought they knew. We have gained confidence to share the truth of the Word with friends and neighbours because it wasn’t just something we are told, but it is something that we have discovered by our own study! Isn’t God so good to give us a way to come to know Him?

Do I lead these women because I have all the answers? Not in the least. I lead because it forces me to study and maintain a good habit, not becoming lax in my discipline or thinking. It is so easy in my busy life to let Bible study drift. After all, I have read these same verses many times. But studying God’s Word inductively will always bring clearer perception as the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth so that we can welcome it into our hearts and lives.

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