What to Do When You Do Not Understand

The Honest Response to Confusion

There will be days when you open the Bible and understand nothing. The words are in English but the meaning is locked behind a door you cannot find the key to. You read the same sentence three times and it still makes no sense. And the temptation is to close the Bible and conclude you are not smart enough for this.

You are smart enough. The Bible is just old, foreign, and dense. And there is no shame in not understanding it on the first read. Or the tenth. Or the hundredth.

An educated Ethiopian official, reading Scripture in his own language, admitted he did not understand it. And he was not embarrassed about it. He said it plainly: "How can I unless someone explains it to me?" That is the right response to confusion. Not shame. Honesty. And then a willingness to get help.

Not understanding a passage is not a spiritual failure. It is an invitation to dig deeper. And digging deeper is one of the most rewarding things you can do with Scripture. The passages that confuse you on the surface often become the most transformative once you understand them.

Five Steps When Confused

Here is what to do when you do not understand. First, read it again. Slowly. Out loud if you can. Sometimes hearing the words helps your brain process them differently. Read the whole chapter, not just the confusing verse. Context often clears up confusion.

Second, look up words you do not know. Not every word. The key ones. The ones that seem to carry the weight of the sentence. A good study Bible or a free online dictionary can tell you what a word meant in the original language. Sometimes the entire confusion is one word you have been misunderstanding.

Third, read a commentary. Not because you are weak. Because you are wise. Commentaries are written by people who have spent decades studying the text. They know the historical background, the language, the theology, the debates. Reading a commentary is not cheating. It is learning. And learning is what the Bible is for.

Fourth, sit with the confusion. Not forever. But for a while. Some passages are meant to be puzzling. They are meant to stretch your mind, challenge your assumptions, and push you into deeper thinking. If you understand everything on the first read, you are not reading deeply enough. Confusion is not the enemy of faith. It is the beginning of it.

And fifth, pray. Not for a magical download of understanding. For patience. For humility. For the willingness to say "I do not know yet, but I will keep reading." God is not offended by your questions. He is honored by your persistence.