Four Crucial Spiritual Lessons

Spiritual lessons rarely come easy for anyone. Usually, we learn the lessons that spiritual mothers and fathers learned before us, lessons they figured out the hard way, just like we do. But once internalized, these spiritual truths give us the strength to endure the hard times with grace. These realities give us the fortitude to resist temptation, stand for truth, resist fear, and resolutely abide in Christ.

I feel like such a slow learner. I have to repeat homework and retake the spiritual tests over and over. But I have discovered that this is part of the process. How many repetitions does it take to make a bodybuilder strong enough to compete? More than I am willing to count. But the analogy applies to our spiritual lives as well. We must read and reread the same passages in the Bible until they are in our minds and hearts for good. We have to repent of our habitual sins over and over until we conquer them. Lift, lift, lift those prayers to heaven until they are answered.

Spiritual Lessons

1: Peace does not rely on external circumstances.

This lesson is both excruciating and crucial. As a single mother, I remember feeling terrified over money. This fear still comes back to haunt me now and again. But I remember falling fall short one month and giving up control. I told God that it was his job to care for my daughters and me. And he did. A friend handed over a check for the amount I needed. She simply said that God had told her I needed it. So many times, God has come to my rescue. I remember these when things look uncertain.

Sometimes circumstances look terrifying. I remember undergoing some pretty severe psychological warfare with a former boss. I had attempted to correct the rubric she insisted on using because it unfairly penalized students. She had me followed on campus. She tried to get my office mate to spy on me. I knew I was in the right, but that time was really traumatizing. I couldn’t teach for nearly two years afterward. But I learned to keep my eyes on the Lord and to fight for my peace. After she left her job and I knew she wouldn’t be tormenting anyone else any time soon, I learned that I could withstand an abuser. And the peace I earned the hard way has lasted ever since.

2: Spiritual lesson: Daily devotional times, even small ones, yield a harvest.

Daily prayer and reading the Word is not a good luck charm against the evils of the day. But man, it sure does prepare me to meet the demands of the day, whatever they are. This time becomes the touchstone of my day. I keep a list of my prayer requests and a corresponding list of answers. Both lists are really long, but since I began praying in a determined and organized fashion, quite a few things have changed.

We often get an exaggerated idea of what this time means. I remember pastors admonishing us to spend an hour each day. This becomes quite legalistic very quickly, with one eye on our Bible and one eye on the clock. I divide each day into a list I concentrate specifically on. Mondays, I pray for my husband. Tuesdays, my children, Wednesdays, people the Lord lays on my heart, Thursdays, extended family, Fridays, my marriage, and Saturdays, my dreams. But what about our country and our leaders, you ask? Every day I lift those up, especially during this terrible time. I use prayer books and picture prayers. I use imaginative prayer and praise and worship. I pray in the spirit. I mix it up. Sometimes I can’t get it done until the evening. Doesn’t matter. I am learning to be faithful.

3: God isn’t mad at me.

The Gospel is real. This means that I don’t have to continually punish myself for my many mistakes. Even when I struggle with a personal failing, I don’t have to be afraid of approaching the throne. Instead, I am fearful of not revealing who I am to God. If I hide from him, then I am usually hiding from myself and others. Learning to be emotionally intimate with my Heavenly Father gives me the courage to be emotionally intimate with myself and those close to me. This often saves me from me.

1 John 3:20 says if our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. This verse always excites me. He is greater than my regrets and self-recriminations. I can take all those issues to him without fear of condemnation or rejection. This sets me free on such a deeper level. I can face the anger or rejection of others, knowing that the King of the universe will not punish me. Discipline, yes. Punishment, no. If we approach God with the unconscious belief that he is angry or disappointed in us, that he has a divine lecture he wants to give, then we cut our hearts off from Him. Simple as that. And the gradual slide towards soulless religion begins.

4: Spiritual lesson alert!: Bad results don’t mean I made a mistake.

Sometimes I think I hear the Lord tell me to do this or that. I obey, and all hell breaks loose. Or sometimes, I feel that I am supposed to give an encouraging word to someone, and they are deeply offended. Or a blog post I felt passionate about falls flat. I confront my old boss about a faulty rubric, and she doesn’t listen, but instead, she punishes me. I stand up to bullies and get attacked. Or I try to save a kitten, and it dies. I pray for healing for someone, and instead, they get sicker.

Somehow we are conditioned from an early age to believe that making good choices will save us from heartache and pain. The truth is that making the right choices or obeying that still, small voice actually results in many sorrows. We reap what we sow, yes. But every seed dies before it eventually produces fruit. Jesus suffered on the cross with an eye to the reward that he would eventually reap. If that reward is the complete conquering of evil on earth, he is still waiting. Still, he healed people and got crucified for it.

I am not trying to inflict the existential belief that a good deed is only a good deed if done without expecting a reward. I am trying to say that sometimes we need to develop patience that outweighs our expectation of instant prizes for good behavior. Noah looked foolish for believing God. Moses endured mocking and threats from his own people. We should not be surprised if we suffer persecution for doing what is right. Our reward may not happen until heaven. Are we willing to obey God unto death? Sometimes I find myself unwilling to obey God even unto a little momentary deprivation. Doing the right thing often means rejection and ridicule. Let us do it anyway.

None of these spiritual lessons come very quickly. In fact, each one involves death to self, examining one’s beliefs, and faith in the unseen world. Fortunately, while there are rarely do-overs, we do get to retake the class. Another spiritual lesson is always just around the corner, awaiting discovery.

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How I Learned that God is Good