Before I chose to do SBS, a friend told me something that has seriously stuck with me. She said that I could run for the next 5-10 years in missions yet come to the end of it, only to realize that I was burning off of everyone else’s oil and never actually knew Jesus for myself. Hearing those words put the real fear of God in me as I had already started feeling that way very early in missions.

I was always grasping for any credible evidence to use to defend my faith to others as well as push back against the mental warfare in my mind. I knew that scripture was alive and applicable to my life but I hesitated to fully embrace it, knowing there was so much context under the surface and that it could take me a lifetime to understand.

My first week of SBS forever changed my walk with Jesus and how I viewed the Bible. I had never even considered questions like “Who wrote this book?” and “Why was it written?”, I just trusted that I had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit enough to believe the Bible was reliable and that if it wasn’t, someone would have discovered that by now. In other words, I let others’ investigation of God’s Word be my foundation of belief instead of critically approaching it myself.

Coming into this season with that mindset set me up for an absolutely incredible, revelation-filled 9 months of discovery. I remember weeping over the most simple passage in Titus because for the first time I understood why the Lord gave us His Words: to live by them. In order to live by them, I first needed to understand them and to do that I had to focus on the context of which it was written to and from. 

The way the inductive method works is by looking at the text from the perspective of the original reader. The only way to do that is by diving into the history of humanity and learning the political, economical, geographical, and spiritual atmosphere behind every book. We call this the BRI (Basic Required Information). Honestly, this is where I found such awe and brilliance. A book written over thousands of years by over 40 authors from different parts of the world could seamlessly come together to reflect God’s character in a way that still impacts my life today.

Next, we observe the text and see exactly what has been written. Anything from figures of speech to the structure of it’s composition is fair game for observation. We then take the “what”, add the historical background and arrive at our “why”. This section challenged me the most as I had to piece together conclusions for the purpose of each chapter for each book. After interpreting why the passage or verse was written, it became so easy to pull timeless truths about God’s character and His plan for His people from every corner of the Bible.

Although I thought I was being pushed to my very limits by the load of information I was intaking and processing, God showed me that He was expanding my capacity to learn as I would forever be on this endless exploration of the Bible. Words cannot express my gratitude for having the privilege to have gone through SBS. If you are considering going deeper in God’s Word and hungry to answer the ever-so daunting “why” questions, I cannot recommend the School of Biblical Studies enough!