How God Speaks to Me Through the Scriptures
Mar 26, 2026Summary
Have you ever opened the Old Testament, looked at the genealogies or the ancient laws, and wondered, "How in the world does this apply to me today?" Perhaps you want to hear God's voice, but the scriptures often feel more like a dry history book than a personal letter. In this episode of the Arise, Women of God podcast, host Tamara K. Anderson joins licensed clinical social worker Wendi Christensen to answer the question: How God speaks to me through the scriptures.
We move from just reading the Word to actively receiving the Word by exploring the "Flashlight Principle"—how the Spirit can highlight a single word over and over to give you a green light for your goals. Wendi shares how she uses the active Word to find modern examples of Jesus setting healthy boundaries, while Tamara uncovers surprising insights about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. She shares her raw "But if not" story, discussing how those three ancient words gave her the exact phrasing she needed to process God's heartbreaking answer regarding her sons' autism. Whether you're a Christian woman looking to solve the pain of spiritual boredom or simply curious about how God speaks to me through the scriptures, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion, and don’t forget to subscribe for more expert insights on personal revelation!
Episode Takeaways
- The Eye of Faith: The scriptures become a personal letter when you read them with an "eye of faith." If you are struggling with a specific issue (like forgiving a sibling), search for a Bible story on that exact topic and ask the Spirit to be your tutor.
- The Flashlight Principle: When God has a specific mission for you, He will often shine a "flashlight" on a recurring word in your scripture study. Tamara shares how the word "write" jumped off the page week after week until she finally began writing her book.
- "But If Not" Faith: Tamara shares how the story of the fiery furnace gave her the words to process her grief. She learned to pray: "I know You can heal my sons' autism. But if You choose not to, I will still believe." The scriptures give us words when we have none of our own.
- The Active Word: Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is "alive and active." Wendi shares how she uses the New Testament to see how Jesus modeled modern emotional health—setting boundaries, experiencing righteous anger, and taking time away to recharge in the wilderness.
Resources
Are you ready to stop reading history and start receiving revelation? Download our FREE Roadmap to Revelation: 6 Steps to Hearing God in Your Daily Life, which includes an exclusive Receiving Light and Revelation Audio Meditation to help you prepare your heart before you open your Bible today! 👉 Download the Bundle Here: https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/pl/2148756546
Reflection Questions
- Do you currently view the scriptures as a history book or as an active, living tool for your current problems?
- Has God ever shined a "flashlight" on a specific word or phrase for you over and over? Did you act on it?
- Read Daniel 3 (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). In what area of your life do you need to develop a "But if not" kind of faith right now?
- Look at the life of Jesus. How does His example of setting boundaries or taking time in the wilderness give you permission to care for your own emotional health?
Host & Guest
Tamara K. Anderson @tamarakanderson
Wendi Christensen @wendichristensencounseling
Transcript
Tamara K. Anderson
00:00:00.480 - 00:03:42.960
Have you ever opened the Old Testament, looked at the genealogies or the ancient laws and wondered, how in the world does this apply to me today? Perhaps you want to hear God's voice, but the scriptures often feel like a history book rather than a personal letter.
Today we are talking all about how God speaks to me through the scriptures. And by the end of today's episode, you'll be able to understand how to shift your eye of faith to see my modern answers in ancient verses.
Just like a young mom in our accountability group did last week, we're going to help you solve the pain of spiritual boredom by showing you how to find flashlight verses for your mission and but if not faith in your hardest trials. We're moving from just reading the word to receiving the word. Stay tuned. Ordinary Women Extraordinary Faith When God calls, we say yes.
The Arise Women of God Podcast hello and welcome to another episode of the Arise Women of God podcast.
I'm your host, Tamara K. Andersen, and joining me today is Wendi Christensen, my co founder of Women warriors of Light and licensed clinical social worker. And today we are exploring the scriptures as living, breathing tools for revelation.
First, we'll share a story from a woman in our accountability group and how she found modern power in the Old Testament stories. Second, we'll discuss the flashlight principle, how God can highlight specific words, give you a green light for your goals.
Third, I'll share my but if not story how the Book of Daniel helped me process a heartbreaking answer with regards to my son's help. And finally, we'll talk about the active Word and why the scriptures are the ultimate tool for setting patterns in our life and finding peace.
But first, let's begin by shifting the history of the scriptures to modern application.
Just last week in our accountability group, one of the women in our group commented, and she's a younger mom, she said, all of a sudden I started studying the Old Testament and trying to see how it applied to me. And she goes and oh my goodness, there's so much there. And I remember just thinking, yes, there really is.
And so sometimes it is reading with an eye of faith, maybe finding a version of the scriptures that you can understand. And maybe it's listening to a podcast to help a story come alive for you in the scriptures.
There are so many ways that God can speak to us through the scriptures, but everything starts with the desire, right? If, if you can plant that desire to I want to learn through the scriptures, I want to apply something through the script.
You can even start with maybe you're struggling with a Sibling or something like that.
And you can even search up what are some Bible verses that talk or Bible stories that talk about struggling with a sibling or reconciling or forgiving or whatever it is that you're dealing with. And all of a sudden God can guide you to verses that become super meaningful to you. It starts with that desire. Isn't that awesome?
Once you decide you want to. To be taught, the spirit can act as your tutor.
Wendi has described this as the fine tuning of our internal world where God's words actually begin to shape our thoughts.
Wendi Christensen
00:03:43.280 - 00:05:12.270
And we've talked in the past about how does God speak to me. And this is one way words can be so powerful. Our thoughts are made up of many words.
Like how we communicate to ourself really affects us and it affects how we see the world around us. Right. The words that we use and they can have such an impact.
To say something negative because we're in this negative space was going to have a negative impact on us. But if we think positively, we use positive words, it's going to have a positive impact. The scriptures are like that.
They are these words that are so, they can be so profound and they can have such an impact on our lives and our world if we allow them to be and we step into them. And that doesn't mean we have to be these great scriptorians, right? That we have to know the ins and outs of every single Scripture. We don't.
It can just be starting with basic stuff and just a basic scripture. And there have been times in my life, I remember one time I just was like, I like to.
I played this game because I'd heard about it where you just can thinking about something or I'm struggling with something and maybe I've had. I'm having a challenge in my life and I take my scriptures and I'll just let them fall open and just read whatever scriptures right there.
And I have done that and many times it's exactly what I needed to hear or it's the words that I needed to, to listen to, to read that would bring peace into my life. And that's the thing is they can have so much power.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:05:12.830 - 00:08:10.630
They really are powerful.
I remember a season of my life about seven or eight years ago where it felt like God was shining a flashlight on a single word every time I opened my scriptures. There is a wonderful quote by St. Augustine, who was a 4th century theologian. And I love this quote. I've heard it.
I didn't know it was attributed to him. When we pray we speak to God when we read scripture. God speaks to us.
And so I really think this is one of the ways God can really communicate with us.
I remember when I was feeling prompted to write a book, like, seven or eight years ago, and it was like every time I opened my scripture, the word write, it was like God was shining a flashlight on that word. Write this down or record this or something. I'm like, oh, my goodness.
It was like night after night and week after week, I'm like, okay, okay, I got the message. You want me to write? You want me to spend time writing? I will write, you know? And so it's funny how he really can speak to us through the scriptures.
There has been other times when I knew I needed to develop some of the characteristics that I was reading about. I remember hearing a talk once that told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being, you know, thrown in the fiery furnace.
And the quote that just jumped out at me.
And I went back and I read the story over and over and over again was, but if not so they were telling King Nebuchadnezzar that they would not bow down to his idol and that God could save them from the fiery furnace, but if he chose not to, they would still believe. And reading that phrase over and over, it's, I know God can help me. I know God can save me, but if he chooses not to, I'll still believe.
And at that point, I was really praying that God would heal my sons with autism, and that was not the answer to that prayer. He wasn't going to heal them from the autism. And so I had to have that.
But if not, kind of faith, I know you can heal them, but if you choose not to, I'm going to be okay. And when I first read that, I'm like, I am not okay. This is not the answer that I want. But God planted that desire in my heart.
He's like, this is not where I'm at, God. But I want to get to this point. And it probably took me about a year and a half till I could say that prayer.
You know, God, I know you can heal my kids, but if not, I'm going to be all right. That story gave me words when I didn't have my own. It allowed me to say, I know you can, but if you don't, I'm still yours.
Wendi has found that this active word even helps us navigate things like boundaries or emotional health.
Wendi Christensen
00:08:11.270 - 00:10:04.240
It's God's word that's there to help us in the challenges, like you had the challenges with your sons, right? It's there to be there for whatever situations we're in.
And it's the spirit that uses the words that have been there for centuries and activates them to be there for us in that moment.
There's a scripture in Hebrews 4, verse 12 that says, for the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double edged sword it penetrates, even to dividing soul and spirit. I love that scripture that talks about it's active and that's how it's active.
You can go and find direction through the stories, through the examples. I can't tell you how many times I've looked to the example of Christ in the New Testament and went, he set boundaries with people.
Look at this story, look at this story. Look at Mary and Martha. And he's like, I can't come right now. I'm gonna have to come later. I'll come and heal your, your brother.
But they're like you, you didn't show up when you wanted, we wanted you to. And now you've, you know, you can't do it. And he's like, oh.
And he's weeping and sorrowful with them, but he's teaching, he's teaching healthy boundaries too, right? I had things I needed to do. I told you I would come. But also I need to go out in my own personal wilderness when I need to leave me alone.
Like I need my space, my time, my distance. Anyways, there's just so many things and the beautiful emotions. Christ had emotion. And it's okay to share those emotions.
To be righteously angry when we need to, to be sad and sorrowful and mourn with the we love. I don't know, I just love how the scriptures make God's word just comes alive and helps me in the places, in the spaces that I am currently in.
It really is active and alive and helping us and in the struggle and in the challenges that we have. We can go to the scriptures and find answers to most everything that we are dealing with if we will just open them up.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:10:04.320 - 00:10:58.050
There you go, my friends, the scriptures aren't just a record of what God said to them. They are a channel for, for what he wants to say to you. Whether you need a flashlight for your mission or a.
But if not for your trial, open the book and ask him to show you the way. And if you're ready to start your own personal scripture journey of revelation, we have a roadmap to help you with that.
You can download our Roadmap to Revelation PDF six steps to Hearing God in your daily life and the Receiving Light and Revelation Audio meditation for free at the link below. So my friends, go find your story in the scriptures today. God will meet you there. Say a prayer first. It always helps me.
And until next time, may you arise. Do it God's way. God strong.
