“The hardest lessons in life are always the best lessons in life” — such has been my experience and hence my mantra for quite some time. Tough lessons just “stick” better. I remember as a boy my irresponsibility in not taking care of gifts some relatives had passed along to me, or being slow in returning items I’d borrowed from others. In college, a classmate rightly “told me off” for not shouldering my load of a class project we shared. She needed to speak her mind, and I needed to hear it. By God’s grace, I have since overcome this character flaw, largely because I remember not only my shortcomings, but more so the disappointment I saw in others and felt inside.
Similarly, the Jewish concept of “remember” reaches beyond simply bearing in mind events from the past; it extracts meaning from them and absorbs them into our thoughts, shaping our current actions and future aspirations. As His people journeyed toward the promised land, for instance, God instructed them, “You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness. . . .And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, . . . that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”1 Henceforth, the recollection of the people’s suffering and God’s provision would declare this higher meaning: We live by God’s Word. Paul likewise warns that God’s judgment of the Hebrew people during their wilderness wanderings serves a timeless purpose to all believers still today: “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.”2
So we ask . . .
What life trials has God turned into life lessons for you?
Are you able to look beyond anguish and self-condemnation from past failures and live freely and proactively in the life lessons we’ve learned from them?
What life learnings may we share with the generations that follow, so they can learn big lessons at small costs?
In the mercy of God, trials and failures are among the “all things” He works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.3 We are redeemed.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. — James 1:2-4 ESV.
Father, thank You for redeeming our shortcomings and failures and for teaching us through them. Lead us today in the victory of Your faithfulness and grace. In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 Deuteronomy 8:2-3 ESV
2 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 NIV
3 Romans 8:28 NIV
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Paul Nordman—Author 