Life is a school where every day brings a new opportunity to learn, an occasion to grow. The faster we learn, the sooner we reach the level of maturity that makes us look wise in other people’s eyes. People, conditions and situations of life represent our teachers. They come into our life for a season, a reason or a lifetime so they can accomplish what they were designed for. Some people come into our life and are so easy to deal with. They bring to us love, peace and joy and give us a reason to appreciate and cherish life. They are like an oasis in a desert, an island in a troubled sea or a lighthouse in a stormy night. When we think about them and how they have left their footprints all over our hearts, we wonder how would we be able to sustain the hardships of life without them!
Other people step also into our life and are so difficult, so annoying, so complicated. They represent for us an opportunity to discover the dark side of our being and a chance to make adjustments and grow from a spiritual standpoint. Sometimes, we cannot help but think that their sole purpose in life is to make us miserable. While we often consider the easy-to-deal-with people as angels and welcome them in our life, the difficult, annoying and complicated ones represent the best teachers that we could ever have. Without any hesitation, they are quick to tell us the truth about ourselves and have no problem sharing sometimes with others everything that they think they know about us. This might hurt but that is the truth that will make us free. The way they treat us can often become the stepping stone that will propel us to the next level and help us reach our goal.
Some conditions or situations in life have the same effect. They break us, mold us, and make us who we are today. There is a price paid for every gray hair on our head, every wrinkle on our face. With every word of wisdom we pronounce comes an experience… most of the times, a painful one. Would Joseph ever accede to power in Egypt if he was not sold by his own brothers? Would Moses be the strong and compassionate leader he was if he did not experience his strange and difficult life? Forty years learning the power, the wisdom of Egypt and the art of building followed by forty years in the back of the wilderness caring for his father-in-law’s sheep, unlearning the superstitious, mighty and proud spirit of Egypt, before leading the rebellious and stiff-necked children of Israel through the wilderness for forty years! Could even Jesus become the perfect sacrifice for our sins if he did not accept to deal perfectly right with Judas for three and a half years despite knowing that he would betray him?
Life is a school and we need to learn how to acquire a good degree. When people, conditions or situations of life come on our way and overwhelm us, maybe we should take time to consider instead of complaining, criticizing or condemning. Shouldn’t we think that we are in the process of continuing our spiritual education? Perhaps it is a golden opportunity to work on our attitude and change our pattern of thinking. Did not the author of Hebrews, referring to Jesus, say, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered”? Then somewhere else, we read, “In everything, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Everything means… everything. Good or bad.
Life is a school where every day brings new opportunity to learn, an occasion to grow. Come on, now! Let us pick our stuff, let us continue our spiritual education while keeping our priorities straight. There is a good degree in front of us to earn…
Dr. Joël Hilaire
Pastor of Orlando Gospel Assembly
