Experience as the Teacher

Experience As The Teacher 

Read: Hebrews 12:7-12, Genesis 45:1-8; Ruth 1-4; John 6: 16-24
 
 
How did you learn to ride a bike? By reading a book on the subject or by getting on the bike and riding? How did you learn to swim or drive? By watching a YouTube video on swimming or driving? There are some things we can only learn by experience. Such is the case with our trials and hardships. Our Lord may be taking us through a struggle to teach us something we can learn no other way. Although we tend to take the shortcut through the struggle or avoid it at all costs, God’s purpose may be for us to go through it or remain in it for a while. Where did Joseph learn humility and servanthood but as a slave in Potiphar’s house? Where else could David learn His God was big enough to handle Goliath but by becoming a worshipper of God as he tended sheep in the wilderness? Where did Ruth learn God was her Redeemer but in widowhood, caring for her aging mother-in-law, and working in the barley fields? Where else but in turbulent waters could the disciples see that Jesus controls the wind and waves? Where else could you learn what He’s teaching you than right where you are?
 

Respond: As you reflect on a recent or current trial, what do you sense God could be teaching you? Is He revealing any potential purposes for your hardship? Take time this week to meditate on the purposes God has for your trial, and then plan a time to discuss this with a mentor or Christian friend.