Learning

So I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on how I learn best - when your daily job is to cram as many facts about the human body (or really any topic you learn about as a student) into your head, you can't help but think about just how that works a little bit :) In all of my pondering, I've realized that I learn things in 2 majors ways: repetition and getting things extremely wrong. I've known this about myself for a while, but for some reason this week, when I was flipping through my flashcards in between surgery cases, all of the sudden it hit me (and made me chuckle a bit): I learn spiritual truths in the exact same way that I learn facts.

1. Repetition.
The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation. ~ Numbers 14: 18

And if the Lord has to forgive us over and over again patiently, you know what that means: we must struggle with the same sins over and over again. In late high school and early college, I remember this point being particularly frustrating to me - I even recall sitting in Panera with my bible study leader as a college freshman being completely exasperated that I couldn't just "get over" certain sins and be completely sancitified in certain areas of my life immediately (perfectionist much?). Not only has time taught me that the personal refining process is completely dependent on the Lord and not my own effort, but also that there is a sweetness in learning to rely on the Lord and depending on Him as He shapes me into the woman He created me to be (it's much better than flashcards - as hard as I try, I can't really find any sweetness associated with those...). Don't get me wrong, this whole refining process (once dubbed Betsy-allurgy by a wise and particularly funny person I know) isn't always super fun, but bit by bit, the impurities slowly get sifted (melted) out, and we get to be shiny and radiating the Lord's glory: pretty amazing stuff.

2. Getting things really really wrong.
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ~2 Corinthians 12:7-9

A big part of the learning in Med school is via the socratic method (aka being pimped in front of your entire team, in the hopes that if you don't know the answer to a question, you'll definitely remember it later due to the embarassment factor). As nervous as it makes me to be grilled on different types of vasculitis on rounds (ugh!), let me tell you - I remember it later. Same applies to my spiritual life. One of my least favorite things is being overly open and honest with spiritual areas that I've significantly struggled with. Trust me - I'm all pro real-talk, but does that really mean that I need to share with other people exactly the ways that I dishonor the Lord and am the most ugly? I think a lot of times, the answer can be yes. Not only does it help us learn to get over our pride in our own reputation, but it also magnifies the Lord even more by showing how He can work through our weaknesses. Basically, the more I mess up, the more I see how far short I fall from the Lord's glory, the more I learn the ultimately lesson about the Lord's perfection and glory ("What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" ~Romans 6:1-2).

So my prayer for us this morning is to think about how we learn best spiritually. It's not an easy process, but my hope and prayer is that by beginning to recognize how the Lord may be teaching us, we can stop resisting His efforts, give in, and let Him transform us into an image of Himself!