“Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:4-7)
God knows exactly what circumstances to give you to teach and bring you closer to Him.
One day, Mrs. Blackburn decided to make a pitcher of tea. She had never made a whole pitcher of tea before, but she figured you just boil some water and pour it into a pitcher with tea bags. What could go wrong? As she boiled the water, she pulled the pitcher off the shelf and threw 5 or 6 tea bags in it. When the water started boiling, Mrs. Blackburn picked up the pot to pour out the water, but then she set it down. It was a big pot, and she figured it would be better to move the pitcher from the counter to the sink – in case she spilled some. After she poured the water in, Mrs. Blackburn happily said to herself “I didn’t spill a drop!” Then, to her surprise, as Mrs. Blackburn picked up the pitcher, the whole bottom fell out and boiling hot tea splashed all over the sink! At first, Mrs. Blackburn was just annoyed at her folly – this was a glass pitcher, and she hadn’t even thought it might break! But in the end, Mrs. Blackburn was thankful she had put the pitcher in the sink before pouring. Boiling water all over her stomach and legs would have been far more serious than a broken pitcher.
It probably was not a sin to pour boiling water into a glass pitcher – Mrs. Blackburn was not breaking any of God’s commandments by doing so! But in a way, God very gently warned her never to do that again! God knows exactly what circumstances to give you to teach you and bring you closer to Him. Sometimes He uses painful circumstances to teach us lessons; sometimes He teaches us things without bringing pain. But there’s one thing to remember no matter what method God uses: God will always do just what’s right for you. In fact, God is gentle with His people even when He brings them severe pain.
God is the best teacher because He knows what we need to learn and how we need to learn it.
My Response:
» Are there any circumstances in my life that God is using to teach me a lesson? Am I learning?