04282024 Gradual Learning

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God who instructs us in His ways. Sometimes as young Christians, we feel like we have found all the answers, kind of like a fourth-year nursing student. Then life happens, and we realize that not every answer is as simple as what we had dogmatically proclaimed, and living out our solution is not as easy as we thought it would be.

Good teachers start where their students are. They start with the basics, and they gradually build upon those, adding a little each year. After a series of years, the students’ knowledge base has considerably expanded. Just as an example, students study math (or numbers) starting in kindergarten, and they continue to do so through high school, and sometimes beyond. At first it is just counting to ten, then one hundred. Addition follows, then multiplication, and <gasp> long division. These are followed by algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus.

No one would think of asking a kindergarten student to do long division, algebra, or calculus, but the gradual teaching of layer upon layer of knowledge makes those studies possible as the student matures. So it is with our wise God. I suppose He has a minimal number of exceptions within His purposes, exceptional situations in which He catapults a believer miles forward, but generally God leads us level by level in a gradual process.

Surely I’m not the only one who perceives that the challenges of life just keep getting harder. When I was a freshman in college, the school district where my dad taught went on strike for a short time. This seemed huge to me at the time, as it introduced questions about how my tuition would be paid and how often we could afford to talk on the phone while my dad wasn’t being paid. In retrospect, it wasn’t that big of a deal. School strikes don’t typically last very long.

Since then, I’ve faced much harder life challenges. At times I have even had the realization that I’m glad that what I faced at 50 was preceded by what I faced at 30, because I needed the lessons and growth yielded through the past struggles to prepare me for the present struggles.

I found an example of this gradual teaching and preparation in the life of David. As he prepared to face Goliath, Saul questioned whether David was capable of such a task: “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth” (I Samuel 17:33).

David replied with a wonderful testimony about his past experiences with a lion and a bear. He confidently declared, “The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (17:37). God had prepared David for this moment, in part through past deliverances. David had learned to trust in God through lesser dangers, so he was ready to trust in God through bigger dangers.

And this was a bigger danger. While the loss of a sheep or two in the attacks by wild beasts would have been difficult for David’s family, (whom he acknowledges as poor), the stakes in the fight with Goliath were much higher. According to Goliath’s challenge, the consequence of a loss by David would mean enslavement for the entire nation. Was that too big a burden to be borne by a young man? No, not if that young man had seen God take care of him in the past. God had proven Himself to David, leading him through lesser challenges so that he was ready for the greater challenge.

If there is something that you are currently facing that seems too difficult, a “giant,” perhaps it would encourage your heart to remember the “lions” and “bears” of your past. God has brought you through many challenges throughout your life, has He not? And hasn’t He always been faithful? Hasn’t He always upheld you? Hasn’t He always had the answers? This time is no different. Praise God for the past victories and past lessons that have prepared you for this moment. Trust the One who will do what He has always done, which is to lead and watch over His precious children. Look to Him for this victory also. God bless.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA