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A Place to Begin

Writer: Cherie Buijk
Cherie Buijk
Feb 12, 2025
6 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

A simple way to bring your real questions to Scripture.


Sometimes we have a question we wish the Bible would answer plainly.


How do I handle a difficult relationship? What do I do when I don't know what to do? How can I know whether I am responding in faith or simply reacting out of fear?


It's tempting to look for someone else to tell us exactly what to think: a pastor, teacher, podcast host, friend, or even a search result. There is nothing wrong with learning from wise people. We need one another. But if we make this our default, we can miss the opportunity to open Scripture for ourselves, bring our real questions to G‑d, and listen carefully to what the text actually says.


Where do you start? First, you do not need a seminary education, a shelf full of commentaries, or a working knowledge of Greek to begin.


In this article, I am going to show you a method I use myself. All you need is an honest question, an internet-connected device, and a willingness to slow down.


Bring Your Question to Scripture

As we search for answers, I believe there is only one ultimate authority. And no, it’s not me!


Yep. You guessed it. It’s the Bible.


Now don't stop reading!


I'm not here to tell you to just "Give it up and give it to God." And, if you don't know God or trust the Bible, that's OK too. (Just skip to the end of this article for resources to help you decide whether the rest is worth reading.)


But for those who do believe that G‑d is real and that the Bible is trustworthy, I have good news: we can turn to Scripture to seek G‑d’s wisdom and learn to listen carefully for ourselves.


Let's get practical: The purpose of this article is to show you how you can bring your real questions to Scripture and look for wisdom, truth, and a faithful next step.


To illustrate, we'll begin with a problem many of us have wondered how to solve: How to get along with an impossible person.


What I’m going to show you is one way to bring that question to the Bible. We are not going to begin with someone else’s answer. We are going to start by opening Scripture, asking what the passage says, and paying close attention to it for ourselves.




  1. Open (the) Bible


In this example, we might start with the key word search “getting along with impossible people.”


The Open Bible search engine will return specific verses that are related to those key words.  Read over the verses that are suggested. Do any of them resonate with you? Jot them down for the next step. 


For me, Ephesians 4:2-3 felt like the most direct response for what I’m wondering when I ask this question. 








  1. Hit The (Bible) Hub


In the top navigation bar, select the book, chapter and then verse. In this case, Ephesians 4:2. Then click on "INT" (on a Mac or PC, it will show as "Interlin"). This lets you see the passage in English and as it appeared in the language it was originally written, in this case, Greek.


As a reminder, we’re trying to figure out what Ephesians means when it’s telling us to “love” others. We need to understand that before we can decide if this passage has an answer for “getting along with impossible people.”


Before digging into a particular word, read the whole paragraph around the verse. Notice what is repeated, what is commanded, and what the passage says about G‑d, other people, and faithful living.


Now look at the word "love" itself. If you scroll to the bottom of the Bible Hub page, you will see the word “love.” Above that, we see the author used the Greek word "agape" (pronounced agapē).


OK... so what does THAT mean?


Are we talking "chiropractor" kind of love; because I need to "be kind to the people who do the things I really want, like, or need"? Or is it "sisterly" kind of love, because I should "consider everyone as family"?


To find out, touch/click on the number 26 above its Greek pronunciation.

On the new page that launches, you will see a basic definition of agapē.


There is a lot of useful information that comes up in this page. I tend to spend time with the HELPS Word-studies section, but I treat it as one study aid, not the final word. It helps me ask better questions about how this Greek word is used in Scripture.


Here, we read that agapē is not just love, but the kind of love that "centers in moral preference." Huh? What is that?!


Good news, we can scroll down to the bottom of the webpage and find a link to every occurrence where agapē is used in the Bible - all 116 of them!


Click on that link and, as I read other places where agapē appears, I begin to notice that biblical love is not merely affection or approval. It's the kind of love that puts others’ interests before my own. It's a sacrificial kind of love. The kind of love that God has.


In fact, in one of the occurrences, we learn that God is agape.  


  1. What does it mean to YOU?

Using this new understanding for what agapē means in Scripture, I tried to see my "impossible" person the way that God does. When I did that, what used to seem annoying about him became a curiosity: What might he see (or know) that I don't? Of course, patience and curiosity do not mean ignoring harm or staying in an unsafe situation. Sometimes the faithful next step is a boundary, a difficult conversation, or asking a trustworthy person for help.


That doesn't apply in my situation, so as I tried to imagine seeing my friend as God does, I began to think maybe he isn't impossible. Sigh... Maybe I am the problem - because I’m insisting on my friend seeing things my way?!


You get the idea: When I dug a little deeper, Ephesians 4:2 proved quite helpful for getting along with the impossible person in my life. And it helped me see that I needed to slow down enough to see him and think about him as God does.


But perhaps your issue isn't quite this simple. And maybe Ephesians does not directly or adequately address the situation you're struggling with.


Pro Tips

No problem! Set Ephesians 4:2-3 aside and go back to Step 1 (Open Bible) to see if there is a different Scripture passage that better addresses your situation. Once you find a new passage, go to Step 1 and use the interlinear translation of Bible Hub to dig into that verse.


If after reading all the verses, nothing seems to help, tweak the keywords you’re searching on. In this case, if “getting along with impossible people” isn’t yielding useful results, rephrase your issue. Perhaps “dealing with selfish people” or “forgiving someone who hurt me” would better describe your context.


The bottom line is to keep at it. With a little practice, you will become more comfortable putting your questions into words and using Open Bible to find passages that may help you begin.


As you return to Scripture again and again, you can grow in confidence. You may not find an immediate answer to every question, but you can learn to read carefully, ask G‑d for wisdom, and look for the next faithful step in the situation before you. And most importantly, you will be learning to bring your questions to the Bible itself, not simply relying on someone else, including me, to tell you what it means for your particular situation.


What is one real question you are carrying right now that you could bring honestly to Scripture this week?



Resources:

The articles below offer a few places to start with answering the question “Is the Bible trustworthy and accurate?” And while I encourage you to read them, I’ll offer a personal suggestion as well: Ask God. Ask Him to show you He is real. Ask God to meet you in your questions and make His truth known to you. Then remain open to the ways He may answer, for example through Scripture, prayer, wise people, circumstances, or a slow change in what you are able to see. Then, be prepared for the unexpected! He doesn’t always answer us in the ways we anticipate.


Please know, God is not like a genie in the bottle. We don’t get to make wishes and then wait for them to be granted. But God is faithful. Seek Him. He wants you to find Him. It’s my prayer for you and my confident belief, that if you honestly and earnestly seek Him, He will be found.



Photo by Kyle Broad on Unsplash


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