“I give you sound
learning, so do not forsake my teaching.”-Proverbs 4:1-3
As a youth pastor, there is never a shortage of teachable
moments. There are kids who are still learning social cues; how to communicate
without yelling; how to communicate with confidence; how to communicate without
yelling and with confidence to the opposite gender; and so on.
There are times where I want to scream, but the reality of
it is, I was there once too. I was a kid who had to learn how to communicate
well, heck, I am an adult who still needs to learn how to communicate well, sometimes.
I was a kid who was lacking self-confidence, so I would take out my aggression
in wrong ways. I had a lot to learn.
One of my most memorable moments as a kid was in fourth
grade. Mrs. Morowski (I think that’s how you spell it) was an amazing teacher, just in case I will call her Mrs. M going forward. She loved her students and
would hand out licorice to kids who brought in golf balls so she could give
them to her husband. I never looked so hard for golf balls in my life.
She used to do a math challenge game. She would have a
student stand behind another student who was sitting. She would call out a multiplication
problem, from 3’s to 9’s, and the first to answer correctly would move on. If
the person standing got it right, they would move to the next person sitting
down, if they got it wrong, they would sit down in the seat and the person
sitting would take their spot. Again, I think that’s how it worked, because I
never moved from my seat. I was horrible at math!
One day during the game, I broke down crying. I couldn’t get
the questions right and I felt defeated. Mrs. M saw my struggle and pulled me
aside before I left for lunch. I remember her words, “Bobby, you can do this. You
just have to believe you can. You are a smart kid (I’m sure she used air quotes
in her mind), but you don’t think it. I will be here at 7:30, 30 minutes before
school starts, and I want you here to walk with me and work on your 9’s.”
I showed up the next morning and several mornings after to
work on my 9’s, then my 7’s, and then my 4’s. I started to figure it out. I
still never found myself out of my seat, but I was getting the answers correct.
I was slower than others, but I knew how to get the problem solved.
Mrs. M was a great teacher and loved me enough to teach
instead of look at me as a lost cause.
This is how Christ works with us. He understands our
struggles. He knows our doubts. He sees what we fail to see in ourselves.
However, He doesn’t throw His hands up in the air and walk
away. He steps to us, kneels down, and reveals to us the things we need to
know. He beckons us to walk with Him and let Him work with us in our flaws and
insecurities. He longs for us to seek His teaching. He steps with us into the
darkness and sheds light on what we couldn’t see.
He never misses the teachable moments. We have to be willing
to be taught. It might mean waking up early and walking in circles until we
figure out what He’s teaching, but sooner or later, we will get it.
QUESTION: What IS God
Teaching You Today?
For Reference: I wrote a little about Mrs. M in previous
post in 2011. Check it out here: http://bobbybenavides.blogspot.com/2011/09/mentors.html
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