Unexpected Lessons

“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” 
John Piper

Where are you right now? Are you discouraged and disillusioned, unsure how your current season in life matters? Your current job may seem tedious and unimportant. You are weary of changing diapers and playing Candy Land 12 times a day. Your marriage seems more like a business partnership than a reflection of the union of Christ and the church. The house is quiet, no longer filled with the ever present chaos and clutter of raising children. Your friendships feel disconnected because daily life seems to interfere with deep fellowship. You wonder if what you are doing matters. 

When I was studying to be a Spanish teacher, I had to take Spanish and Latin American literature classes in college, starting as far back as the Spanish mystics and El Cid (think of it as reading Shakespearean style literature - but in a foreign language). I didn’t understand how reading those archaic texts would help me teach teenagers how to say “The big house is green” in Spanish.  I thought about switching to a different major a few (dozen) times in the first year! I plodded through a few hundred pages of Spanish literature per week, learning vocabulary I didn’t think I would ever use again. 

I did persevere, thanks to my family’s encouragement and fellow Spanish majors who helped me. (Remember, Google translate didn’t exist in the early ‘90s - so my friends and my five-inch-thick Spanish-English dictionary were my lifelines). Then I started teaching. I soon began to doubt that I was an effective ambassador for the marvels of Hispanic culture and language. I don’t have a peppy, high energy personality. I struggled to make connections with my students because I am not the teacher that students are drawn to share their struggles with or come to for advice.  To be sure, providing for my family is enough of an incentive to continue working, but I couldn’t see a bigger purpose behind what I was doing.

But God.  

From the time my husband and I were married, we have been members of a solid gospel-centered church. We have had the privilege of participating in almost three decades of sermons, Sunday school classes, and small groups led by faithful teachers and pastors. Through these opportunities, I started seeing that the many hours I spent reading and discussing Spanish literature had prepared me to read and study the Bible as a richly interconnected piece of literature with overarching themes, symbols, and a purposeful message. I started to apply the grammatical and linguistic skills I had mastered in Spanish to better understand the Bible by studying Hebrew and Greek. Through thousands of pages of Spanish literature I had built a foundation that would help me learn from Scripture. 

Not only did I start to see how learning Spanish language and literature helped shape me as a student of the Bible, but the years of daily lesson planning and interacting with my students were preparing me for an unexpected ministry. A friend at church recommended a couple of books for me to read about biblical counseling. My first reaction was “No way. I can’t be a counselor. I am not a touchy-feely, warm-and-fuzzy type of gal. I can’t counsel and help people who are struggling.” I also had a list of other reasons why counseling was not the ministry for me. 

But God.

After reading the book “Competent to Counsel” by Jay Adams, all my reasons not to be a counselor were effectively dismantled and I registered for the first phase of training with the Association of Certified Bible Counselors (ACBC). Since finishing the certification, I have had the privilege of walking alongside individuals as they struggle and grow in sanctification. Three decades of writing lesson plans for Spanish class prepared me to develop agendas for sessions with counselees. The hours of finding and creating homework to help students learn Spanish gave me the resources to create short Bible studies and action steps for counselees to grow more in Christlikeness. All the times that I had to adjust my plans and change an activity on the go during a Spanish class to accommodate the needs of the students gave me the patience and flexibility I need for working with counselees. 

But God.

Sarah doubted that she would be a mother. Moses spent four decades shepherding stubborn sheep in the wilderness. David spent years running from the king he had faithfully served. Anna lost her husband and spent years praying and fasting in the temple. The woman in Luke 8 was an outcast for 12 years because of her issue of blood. They waited, struggled, doubted.  But God used those trials in powerful ways.

We can’t always see in the moment how God is working in our life. It may take many years before we can look back and see how his providence allowed us to learn something or give us experience that can be applied to another area of life. Maybe what you are doing right now is preparing you to be involved in a ministry. Or maybe the lessons you are learning in the doldrums of daily life can be used to encourage and exhort others. 
Although it may be difficult to perceive God’s work in our life, we can be sure that he is always working.

God often works in ways that we don’t understand or expect. We may doubt that our present circumstances are worthwhile, but we can know for certain that his sovereign purpose will be accomplished through our lives.
We need to keep our eyes focused on the One who gives us purpose and will work all things for his glory and our good. 

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Ephesians 3:20-21