Job 36:22 “God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?”

God is indeed the ultimate Teacher, so the question is the caliber of His students. God provides lesson after lesson, but if we react in resentment instead of humility, (verse 13) we don’t profit from those lessons. In great patience and mercy He will send us through a fresh variation of the same training course, but until our response changes, we don’t really grow. God is not mean; He doesn’t pick on us. However, He knows our weak points and He is going to keep working on them until we either learn our lesson or die. Sadly, too many people die rather than “graduate.”

Having taught in school for 38 years at this point, this is an image that really comes home to me. I have had literally thousands of students and they have certainly run the gamut, from real delights to sad frustrations. Native ability is indeed a factor, but the biggest element is attitude. I have had people come into class with the attitude that “You aren’t going to teach me anything,” and they’ve pretty well been right! I have also had students who came into class feeling they were horrible at languages (I teach Medical English and Speech Therapy) and ended up with a good grade and a different self-image. Every year I have students who fail the examination and are retested. Some of them get their act together and pass on the retest, and some get a worse grade on the retest than the original! All of those things happen from people sitting in the same classroom receiving the same instruction from the same teacher. Good or bad, the teacher isn’t the issue. That tells me that God may be the perfect teacher, but to benefit fully I’ve got to grow as a student. As a pastor I deal directly with the issue of other people learning God’s lessons. Time and time again I ask people, “What do you think God is trying to teach you in this?” Even when they give a good answer to that question, they don’t always accept God’s lesson! In my own life there have been many lessons I’ve had to repeat, some more times than I could count! However, as I have grown they have seemed easier, like refresher courses and not like punishment. Sometimes I get into new territory, because I wasn’t ready to learn earlier, rather like needing to master algebra before tackling trigonometry. Instead of panicking at the new material, I need to rejoice that I’ve advanced a grade! Above all, I need to trust my Teacher, knowing that He’s far better at it than I ever could be, and rejoicing to learn and grow as He directs, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this Word. Thank You for the message You’re giving me for Sunday, on New Things. Thank You for being patient with me until I was ready for what You’re leading us into at this point. Help me never be presumptuous, but follow You boldly in full humility, so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!