“It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.”
Psalms 119:71
My Pondering
Yes it is! It hurts so good. There is the school of learning from the others and the school of learning from self. Though I prefer the ‘one of others’ the most impactful i must say is the latter. The one of ‘hard knock university’. God is often very patient and His reference to time is way different than ours. My experience and that I have read in the Bible and of history is that until we overcome and learn something and apply it, we will not graduate and the circumstance will continue to rear it’s ugly head.
One of my favorite quotes:
‘I learn something from everyone I meet
and its often what not to do’.
Abraham Lincoln
We normally have a choice. We can navigate our boat of life down stream or up stream. Either way there will be obstacles but God sets the current and His way is the better way.
Sometimes these afflictions are avoidable and sometimes not, like the Apostle Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’. Either way, its a conduit God may use for His glory and our good. This is where deep wisdom is required.
It draws me to this verse,
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
James 4:10
Job, Paul and so many others in the Bible have so much to teach us.
Let’s Pray
Good God, help me be much quicker to learn from my mistakes. Help me to shrink my pride, my old fleshy man, my inclination not to take the time to look to others for advice who You, via prayer, being the most important. Help me glean from the experience of others. I am the clay and You are the potter.
Pondering Life : Pursuing God 