Lesson Learned

I wouldn't classify myself as a great student as a kid. I had the aptitude to get straight A's but often settled into the high C, low B category. There were many lessons that I didn't take full advantage of that I now wish I had taken more to heart.

I think most of us forget that the lesson's don't end after high school or even college graduation. There are still lessons to be learned, principles to apply, and a lot of action that should follow. It's our ability to recognize the lessons that life, and more likely God, is trying to teach us. God's lessons are everywhere. They can be found in friendships, marriage, work, school, and everything in between. These lessons don't end because you reach a certain age or financial status. They are always there. The question we need to ask ourselves is, "Will I learn?"

All through the Bible people faced new challenges from mountain tops to valleys. But in each circumstance God was trying to teach them something. Something about himself or something about themselves. For the Israelites the journey out of Egypt to the promised land of God was intended to position them to trust God. The journey included things like enemy attack, food shortage, lack of proper housing, and an overall sense of unrest and discontent. But there was a lesson to be learned. Would they trust God? I think it's still the #1 lesson God is trying to teach us today.

Have you learned the lesson? This isn't one that any of us should fail. Whatever has been going wrong, whatever you've been stressed or worried about, whatever you've been questioning in your life; trust God! It's not blind faith! He's never failed. We can trust him. Learn the lesson.

Start Digging

"This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches." - 2 Kings 3:16 niv

When I was growing up 45 miles south of St. Louis my dad often had a few cows & pigs for the meat and a small garden even though I wouldn't classify it as farming. I have a great deal of respect for those who make their living from the process of farming. When we think about farming it's most often about the harvest. It's when we drive by those fields that where the corn stalks are 6 feet tall that we even recognize that someone has been tending that field.

If there have ever been people of faith, it's farmers. Because they know that the end result of their work starts long before their season of harvest. It began during the winter season when everything died and the ground replenished. The harvest is dependent upon the season of preparation, the season of nurturing, and then the harvest comes. I've never met a farmer yet who believe they could expect a harvest without first doing the hard work before. Harvest is impossible without first sowing the seed.

That's what God was saying through the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 3:16. God said, "Dig a ditch! THEN watch me fill it up!" What area of your life do you need God to produce a harvest in? What issue are you facing that will never be resolved with out the intervention of God? DIG A DITCH! Only God can make it rain, but you can dig a ditch! Give God a place to fill up with his blessing, wisdom, provision, and power!

Have a GREAT day!

The Land Between

I know this about the land between, you've either been there, are there, or will be there. It's an inevitable place in life we each pass through. That place between where we were and were we know God is taking us. The adventure is exciting at first, but soon we realize the journey will be longer and more intense than we imagined. But it's in the journey that we experience transformational growth. The land between is the most fertile soil for this type of growth.

Think back at the toughest times of your life. What did you learn in those moments that has guided you in the years since? What experiences or principles were found in the midst of those hardships? Now, think about those times when things were seemingly perfect. Did you really learn anything or were you just coasting along selfishly focusing on yourself and your pursuits? God leads us through the land between so that we can mature, grow, and learn to trust him more.

If you've found yourself in the land between, I pray that God will sustain and train you. His goal is to develop in you the ability to look beyond your situations and learn to wholeheartedly trust him.

For more on this topic, read Jeff Manion's book, The Land Between. Click Here!