Is God Your Teacher?

Photo Courtesy of Piotr Lewandowski

I can't tell you how many times a day I repeat myself to my children. Some days I consider recording certain sentences and playing them on a continuing loop, so I can save my time and my breath. Others, I'm sure my kids wish my voice was a broken record they could toss in the garbage and forget about.

Too often, I find myself wondering why they haven't learned the lesson. Why can't they remember a simple instruction like, "Put your seat belt on when you get into the car?" Or, "Don't hit your brother. Treat him like you want to be treated. I'm sure you don't like it when he hits you for no reason."

Whenever I consider my children and the lessons they can't learn the first time, I can't help but reflect on my hard-learned lessons in life. Multiple times I bent over for the proverbial whipping from God because I didn't get it right the first time. Like me with my children, He has not spared His rod. He has brought swift discipline every time. It became my choice if I listened the first time or suffered the consequences of my ill choices.

I always thrive when God, rather than life, is my teacher. Throughout my lifetime of lesson-learning, experience has never proven the better instructor. God is the better instructor. When I've chosen to obey His direction, goodness and mercy follow my choice. When I've chosen to let experience teach, I've found myself wallowing in the mire, wishing I'd listened to wisdom over desire.

"I have not departed from Your judgments,
 For You Yourself have taught me."
 - Psalm 119:102

This verse caught my attention as I read my Bible this afternoon. For You Yourself have taught me. 

I've had many teachers in my life. My parents. My grandparents. My baby sitters. My elementary and high school teachers. My college professors. Counselors. Authors of books. Spiritual parents. Sunday school teachers. But no lesson is quite as learned as when God brings it. There's something eternal that happens when the Holy Spirit opens up a scripture and my heart receives it. It comes alive. It breathes into my being and says, "This is the way. Walk in this. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life." Warm fuzzies travel from somewhere deep within me and bring tingles to my skin. My heart grasps what my brain tried processing for years, and I suddenly "get it." It refreshes my inner man and brings life to my spirit.

So I ask you today, who's your teacher?

  

Proverbs 9 - Doest Thou Scoffest?

"Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;

Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

Give instruction to a wise man,

and he will be still wiser;

Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning."

~ Proverbs 9:8-9

A scoffer is someone who shows contempt by derisive acts or language. They tend to mock authority. They think they know better than those who are put over them for the purposes of teaching, training, protecting, and leading them.

As a teenager and very young adult, I scoffed quite a bit. After I made Jesus Lord of my life, I recognized the poor attitudes I had toward my parents and a few others in authority over me. I discovered too late that what they'd been telling me for years was true. They knew more than me. It didn't take me long to realize my need for repentance and forgiveness.

 

In the scripture, God talks about how correcting a scoffer results in his hating you. Wisdom says to correct the wise man, not the one who really doesn't care to hear what you have to say to him. 

Too many times I've witnessed people going to a pastor for counsel, only to turn around and say, "I can't do that." Or, "It's not worth it to me to change." Or, "Yeah, like that'll really work." And they go on with their life doing the same thing they've been doing, wondering why things aren't changing. 

Did you know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? 

Marriages have crumbled, wealth has disappeared, and people are stuck in their same old ruts because they refuse to heed the counsel they've been given by those much older and wiser than they (at least in spirit). And then they blame their dysfunction on the pastor or the elders in the church. "So and so didn't help me." So and so didn't loan me money when I needed it the most." 

No, so and so didn't do those things, but they certainly did tell you to go to the local unemployment office or temp agency and look through their job boards. You are capable of helping yourself if you heed counsel. If you ignore it, you'll find yourself in the same place you've been for the past umpteen years. 

"Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;

Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning."

After years of heeding counsel and doing my best to learn and grow in the things of the Lord, my pastor's wife paid me one of the biggest compliments of my life. She told me she'd beat me with her spiritual baseball bat, and I kept coming back for more. I have a teachable spirit. That's why I've gotten to where I am today. Because unlike those who scoff at authority when challenged by them to change, I chose to honor wisdom. I chose to shut up and do what I was told. And God's grace allowed me to grow.

Are you stuck in a rut you can't seem to overcome? Have you heeded authority in your life, or doest thou scoffest? Trust me. It's better to be teachable than to deny the power of God in your life... 

Photo courtesy of sideshowmom