The School of Life

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…”

— Proverbs 3:5

Recently, a church staff member and I were walking down one of the back halls of the church when he spotted something unusual on the floor. He picked up a rather strange looking object and said, “What in the world is this?” As we turned it over and over, he finally realized what it was and what to do with it.

Life is like that. Before we can really know what we ought to do with it, we need to know what it is and what it is for. A lot of people don’t really know. In fact, I checked, and probably could give you seventy-five to a hundred definitions by different writers of what life is:

  • “Life is a bowl of cherries,” said one—until you get to the pits.
  • Or, “Life,” said Shakespeare, “is a stage [a theater] and every man and woman merely players, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”
  • Life is . . . How would you finish that sentence?

I believe the Bible teaches that life is a school. Some of you might be a little unhappy to hear that because you didn’t care much for school; you would rather think of it as a seventy-year recess. But the Bible teaches, I am confident, that life is a school. In fact, we are told in the Great Commission of Christ—the central command as to what we are to do—to go out and make disciples of all nations. And the ultimate lesson is that we learn to trust Him.

Lord, give me strength for today that I might learn to trust You more. Thank You for Your patience with me and Your steadfast love. Help me to pass the test in Your school, as You teach me to trust You more…

IN GOD’S STRENGTH AND LOVE,
OUR TRUST IN HIM GROWS.