The Best Teacher

The question comes up occasionally, "Who was the best teacher you ever had?" I've been thinking about that lately but with a different twist. During my recent trip in the car by myself I listened to an Audio Book about a professor's last lecture. He made the comment, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." He went on to talk about how experience is the best teacher. I pondered that comment for many miles.

Later in the trip I was listening to my favorite Bible teacher, Jon Courson, and he made the comment that experience is not the best teacher. My ears perked up to hear his explanation. He said experience is a harsh teacher. Exercising faith/trust in God's Word and obedience are the best teachers. He went on to use the analogy of a parent and child. The parent says to a young child, "don't play in the street." He asked if you would rather your child learn by experience or by trusting and obeying what you say. I don't know a parent alive who would choose the lesson taught by experience.

His line of reasoning cast a whole new light on the best teacher debate. I begin to think about times when the Lord had given clear direction and I choose to learn by experience. He was absolutely right, experience was a harsh teacher. I also thought of times when I obeyed what the Lord said and how much peace and joy I felt even when it involved struggle,stretching and challenging my faith.

God always comes back and reteaches me the important concepts. (For all you educators out there, rote learning or drill and kill are not all bad!) This morning as I was staining the last 3 boards on my deck I was once again listening to another sermon by JC and he mentioned that old adage again, "experience is the best teacher." He said maybe so but it doesn't have to be our experience! He said experience was fine if you could afford the tuition. Learning the hard way is expensive! That is why we have all the stories in the Bible about other people's struggles, failures and successes.

God's truth never changes. He told the children of Israel if they would obey His commands they would receive blessing. If they did not,there would be consequences and experience would teach a hard lesson. I don't know about you but I'm praying God would give me the grace and good sense to learn to trust and obey. Doesn't that just make you want to break out in song?! "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey!"