Lessons Learned

Sometimes learning lessons can take it's sweet time. Because you very rarely end up learning it just once. It's a good thing that God is patient with us and our feeble minds that misunderstand and are too worldly to grasp. And our fickle hearts that stubbornly refuse to accept the lessons that He places in front of us. Still He pursues us, showing us more and more how to grow and be transformed. He doesn't pursue us out of a place of duty, or get annoyed at our unwillingness to accept all He gives freely. His passionate love is too majestic for that! He seeks after us, not because of a need, but because of a desire. He desires for us to be near Him, and for Him to be the center of our lives. When we are in that position, with Jesus as Lord of our hearts, we are exactly where we are supposed to be. Our lives are not without torment and trial, but battering winds and storms have no hope to tear us away from our God. It may feel like they can, at times... that's where the lessons are learned.

I imagine learning life lessons in relation to learning math. You are taught it incrementally, very gradually. Counting comes first. Then addition, multiplication, division, algebra, geometry, calculus... I'm not a math person, but I know the list goes on for years and doesn't end anywhere, really. You learn lessons all along the way, and those are true achievements! Don't discount the things God has taught you in the past, just because there is more to be taught. Algebra would be impossible to understand without first being able to count or add. 

Living a life of surrender to Christ would be impossible to grasp without first learning to trust Him in an area that, looking back, doesn't seem so hard now. But it was hard when you were learning it. God was pursuing you back in that moment. He wasn't belittling you, saying that this was just the first step, the easy part. Just wait until the big, scary, parts come out, and then see how scared you'll be. No! He loved and cherished you just as much in that trial as He will when you reach the end of your life, and all trials end. He was so proud of you for drawing near to Him in the moment that seemed so big and terrifying, knowing that in the future, you would see that lesson as just a small learning curve, something you hardly struggle with anymore. But it wasn't a small learning curve when you went through it. It mattered. As do the things you go through and learn now.

The thing about math is that there is always more to learn. And always more being discovered, especially if you get into physics or science. (Those have math in them. The analogy still works!) You never get to the end of learning, and that's how it is with our walks with Jesus, too. We will learn all along the way, and everything that He teaches us, every enlightenment, will grow us and equip us. We serve Him and love those who He loves so much more, the more we allow Him to transform us. The process is constant! So don't be afraid of learning lessons. 

Don't be afraid of the trials that await you in life, as they await every single person, ever. They are stepping stones for your faith. They are hard, so don't discount them. Give them to God and trust Him to get you through, delve into the depths of His love as a constant source of encouragement, and never feel like the things you are going through aren't worth His time. He knows all things and can accomplish all things, but He knows you don't, and is overjoyed when you turn to Him to get through the trials. It is in those moments that the trials become lessons from your Heavenly Father, who is able to shape and mold any evil of the world to fit His grand purpose and transform any bad thing into something good. This is where the learning happens.

When we watch for those transformations, we ourselves are transformed.