Jesus, Lessons for Life 7 Learning from Christ's Lessons Sometimes Occurs Later
As we encounter life's challenges and difficult circumstances, it can be difficult to discern God's hand in the context of what is happening at that moment. We often have tunnel vision about the pain we feel. Sometimes we are not even looking for what God is perhaps trying to work in our lives.
Let's look at an example from John. In "Lessons for Life 5" we examined the time when Jesus cleared the temple, as told in John 2. As a part of that emotional event, Christ made a statement which would be important for his disciples and followers. However, they did not have a clue what He was describing in the moment, but Jesus knew that following his resurrection that they would recall these words and have a full understanding of the lesson and its meaning.
Here is the passage and this explanation.
What was the purpose of Jesus’ statement in John 2:19?
Jn 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
It was a lagging lesson for his disciples, part of his plan to prepare them, but when they were ready to understand, not now.
Jn 2:22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
You perhaps can recall and describe times when God was taking action in your life, but you did not know the lessons until later. Wouldn't it be great if we could improve our capacity to catch these lessons from God as they happen. Here is a question that is worth our time to think about:
How do we become better at recognizing God’s hand in our life?
As our faith increases, as we grow in Christ, we should gain more aware. Here are some suggestions that can help.
- Learn to watch. Be more aware, especially in emotional and/or painful moments.
- Take time to reflect, to look in the rear view mirror to find the lessons from past events in your life, both the peaks and the valleys; pay particular attention to the valleys. In our pain and suffering as a consequence of life's challenges, we often do not recognize the Lord's hand until later, sometimes much later.
- Trust. When in a difficult time, know that God is in control. Take comfort in that. Recognize that you may not understand until later, but seek understanding.
- Pray for discernment and understanding.
It can be easy to miss God's plan and his work. When God rescues us, in the moment we may simply credit it to "good luck," not taking the time and effort to see that it was actually the work of the Holy Spirit. Give God the credit. If you find yourself saying or thinking as follows:
- "What good luck..."
- "What a coincidence..."
- "Fate was..."
These should be like triggers that send you into deep reflection to recognize lessons that God is teaching you. Don't pass up the chance to learn and to draw closer to Him.
Blessings to you all,
Larry
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