The Book That Understands Me - Episode 2

In my previous post a week ago I shared with you part 1 of the story of Emile Cailliet, who searched and searched to no avail to find "the book that understands me." It is an amazing and wonderful and moving illustration of the supernatural nature of the Bible as the living and active word of God. And it is a wonderful story of a man--an unbelieving skeptic of the Christian faith--who, unbeknownst to him was being pursued by the gracious God of heaven for a rendezvous to meet Him in His word. I would encourage you to go back and re-read episode 1 to refresh your memory so that you may feel the full force of the power of God's word in this man's life. As I expressed previously, when I first read this I was moved to tears--literally.

Here is episode 2:

At that very moment his wife (who knew nothing of the project) came by with an interesting story. She had been walking in their tiny French village that afternoon and had stumbled upon a small Huguenot chapel. She had never seen it before, but she had gone in and had asked for a Bible, much to her own surprise. The elderly pastor had given her one. She began apologizing to her husband, for she knew his feelings about the Christian faith. But he was not listening to her apology. "A Bible, you say? Where is it? Show me," he said. "I have never seen one before." When she produced it he rushed to his study and began to read. In his own words,

I opened it and "chanced" upon the Beatitudes! I read, and read, and read--now aloud with an indescribable warmth surging within... I could not find words to express my awe and wonder. And suddenly the realization dawned upon me: This was the Book that would understand me! I needed it so much, yet, unaware, I had attempted to write my own--in vain. I continued to read deeply into the night, mostly from the gospels. And lo and behold, as I looked through them, the One of whom they spoke, the One who spoke and acted in them, became alive to me. This vivid experience marked the beginning of my understanding of prayer. It also proved to be my initiation to the notion of Presence which later would prove so crucial in my theological thinking.

The providential circumstances amid which the Book had found me now made it clear that while it seemed absurd to speak of a book understanding a man, this could be said of the Bible because its pages were animated by the Presence of the Living God and the Power of His mighty acts. To this God I prayed that night, and the God who answered was the same God of whom it was spoken in the Book (Foundations of the Christian Faith, by James Montgomery Boice, Inter Varsity Press, 1986, pg. 51).

Thank you, O God, You who are really there and are not silent, but who has truly spoken and continues to speak to us in the Bible, Your written voice. Thank you for that Sacred Word, which is "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). Thank you for the Book that understands me.