Making Sense of Making It Make Sense: How to Study the Bible and Get Understanding

For the last two months, we’ve been learning to see life through GOD’s lens.

We’ve made sense of relationships, money, suffering, mercy, marriage, direction, community, temptation, purpose, pride, faith, and more. But as the Make It Make Sense series comes to a close, there’s an important question left to answer:

How do we actually learn to see through GOD’s lens?

If GOD’s Word is the lens through which we’re supposed to understand life, we need to know how to understand His Word faithfully.

Proverbs 4:7 tells us:

“Wisdom is supreme, so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.”

Not simply words.

Not simply verse references.

Not simply information.

Get understanding.

You Can Quote the Bible Correctly and Understand It Incorrectly

Philippians 4:13 is one of the most familiar verses in Scripture:

“I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”

We’ve seen it on shirts, shoes, social media posts and athletic gear. It’s often used to communicate something like, “With Jesus’ help, I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.”

But there’s a question every Christian should learn to ask:

What does this verse actually mean?

Scripture is true. But that doesn’t mean every interpretation we give Scripture is true.

We can memorize every word correctly and still misunderstand what those words are communicating.

That’s why Bible study matters.

We don’t study Scripture merely to accumulate biblical information. We study the Bible because through Scripture we come to know, love, trust, obey and worship Jesus more faithfully.

The Bible isn’t the destination.

Jesus is.

“Do You Understand What You’re Reading?”

Acts 8 gives us a beautiful picture of someone seeking understanding.

An Ethiopian official is traveling home from Jerusalem while reading Isaiah. GOD sends Philip to him, and Philip asks a simple question:

“Do you understand what you’re reading?”

His response is refreshingly honest:

“How can I, unless someone guides me?”

Think about that.

He had access to Scripture.

He was reading Scripture.

He was interested in Scripture.

But he didn’t understand Scripture.

And the Bible doesn’t shame him for it.

There’s nothing spiritually mature about pretending to understand something you don’t. Sometimes one of the healthiest things a Christian can say is:

“I don’t know what that means. Help me understand.”

Read. Pray. Ask. Study. Get help.

Get understanding.

Three Questions That Can Change How You Study the Bible

One helpful approach is the Inductive Bible Study Method.

It can be summarized with three questions:

What does it say? What does it mean? What do I do?

Or even simpler:

Say. Mean. Do.

Let’s use Philippians 4:13 to see how it works.

Observation: What Does It Say?

The first step is simple:

Slow down.

Before asking, “What does this mean to me?” ask, “What’s actually here?”

Look at who is speaking. Who are they speaking to? What’s happening? What words are repeated? What comes before the verse? What comes after it?

Here’s a rule worth remembering:

Never buy a verse without meeting its neighbors.

So let’s meet Philippians 4:13’s neighbors.

In verse 11, Paul says:

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.”

Then verse 12:

“I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.”

Then comes verse 13:

“I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Without opening a commentary, searching Google, watching a sermon, or asking someone else, we’ve already learned something simply by reading the surrounding sentences.

Paul’s “all things” is connected to little and much, hunger and fullness, abundance and need.

Observation hasn’t answered every question yet, but it has given us boundaries for our interpretation.

Interpretation: What Does It Mean?

Here’s an important principle:

A text cannot mean today what it could never have meant when it was written.

Before asking what Philippians 4:13 means for us, we need to understand what Paul was communicating to his original audience.

That means considering context, history, genre and the rest of Scripture.

Philippians is a letter. Paul knows suffering and imprisonment. This isn’t someone celebrating after accomplishing everything he wanted and declaring, “I can do all things through Christ!”

This is a man who has experienced abundance and need and learned something in both:

His circumstances do not replace the sovereignty and sufficiency of his Savior.

The rest of Scripture reinforces this.

Faithful believers don’t always receive everything they ask for. Paul asked for his thorn to be removed and it wasn’t. Jesus Himself prayed before the cross, yet the cup was not taken away.

Christians still suffer.

We get sick. We lose jobs. People mistreat us. Doors close. People we love die. Prayers aren’t always answered the way we hoped.

So Philippians 4:13 cannot simply mean, “Whatever I want to accomplish, Jesus will give me the power to accomplish it.”

In context, Paul’s statement is much closer to this:

Through Christ who strengthens me, I can remain faithful and content in whatever circumstances GOD allows me to face.

And that’s better.

The popular version says, “Jesus will help me get what I want.”

The biblical reality tells us, “Jesus will remain sufficient even when I don’t get what I want.”

Some of us desperately need that Philippians 4:13.

You prayed, and the door stayed closed.

You believed GOD for healing, and the person still died.

You prayed for your child, and they’re still struggling.

You thought GOD was going to work something out one way, and it went completely differently.

Maybe the answer isn’t simply, “Have more faith.”

Maybe you need to get understanding.

We can unintentionally hold GOD accountable to promises He never actually made.

That’s why interpretation matters.

Application: What Do I Do?

We can learn context, history, Hebrew, Greek and theology and still refuse to obey Jesus.

James 1:22 tells us:

“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Application is more than the final box on a Bible study worksheet.

Application is worship.

When GOD’s Word exposes something in us and we repent, that’s worship.

When Scripture corrects an assumption and we surrender it, that’s worship.

When GOD speaks through His Word and we obey, that’s worship.

So what do we do with Philippians 4:13?

We learn, like Paul, that our contentment cannot depend upon our circumstances.

Sometimes our “I’m good” has conditions attached.

I’m good if the money is right.

I’m good if my family is okay.

I’m good if I’m healthy.

I’m good if people appreciate me.

I’m good if GOD answers this prayer the way I want Him to.

Paul learned another way to live.

Christ is enough.

We don’t just need a Jesus who can help us win. We need a Jesus who will keep us when we lose.

We don’t just need Jesus when doors open. We need Him when doors close.

We don’t just need Him in abundance. We need Him in need.

We don’t just need Jesus to change our circumstances.

We need Jesus to change us in the middle of our circumstances.

Are You Living on Fumes or Fire?

There’s another danger for Christians who have been walking with GOD for a while.

We can try to live today’s complicated Christian life on yesterday’s encounter with GOD.

Maybe there was a season when you were hungry for Scripture. You studied. You asked questions. You took notes. You wrestled with the text because you wanted to understand.

Then somewhere along the way, you stopped digging.

Now you’re surviving on a sermon you heard years ago, a verse you studied once, a Sunday School lesson you remember, or something your favorite preacher said.

GOD’s truth hasn’t changed.

But you’ve lived since then.

You’ve encountered situations that require you to continue growing in your understanding of what GOD has already revealed.

Because if GOD’s Word isn’t actively forming how you think and make decisions, something else is.

Culture is talking.

Your algorithm is talking.

Politics is talking.

Your friends are talking.

Your desires are talking.

Your wounds are talking.

Your preferences are talking.

We’re constantly being discipled by something.

The question isn’t simply whether you’re being discipled.

It’s who is discipling you.

Biblical ignorance doesn’t leave an empty space. Something eventually fills it.

That’s why we need to keep digging.

Not Fumes. Fire.

In Luke 24, Jesus walked with two disciples and explained the Scriptures to them, showing how they pointed to Him.

Afterward they said:

“Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?”

That’s what we need.

Not fumes. FIRE. 🔥

We don’t study Scripture so we can win arguments.

We don’t study so we can correct everybody online.

We don’t study so we can feel spiritually superior because we know more Bible facts.

We study so we can see Jesus.

So open the Word.

Read.

Pray.

Ask questions.

Study.

Get help.

Get understanding.

And remember these three questions:

OBSERVATION: What does it say?
Because I want to see and hear Him faithfully.

INTERPRETATION: What does it mean?
Because I want to know Him honestly.

APPLICATION: What do I do?
Because I want to follow Him obediently.

Study until your assumptions surrender.

Study until your heart burns with worship.

Then obey what GOD has shown you and allow Him to make your life look more like Jesus.

“Wisdom is supreme, so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.” — Proverbs 4:7

Life starts to make sense when you see it through GOD’s lens.

Meet us on the Westside.