Being the Student – Devotion 263 – SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Listening and learning are an essential part of life. We don’t know everything, at any point. To be a constant student is a necessity if we want to grow and become better. I am not simply talking about formal learning. That certainly has its place and I have spent more time in a classroom than most. But do we consider the lessons we learn each day if we pay attention? Do we listen well enough to hear and take in and learn? Are we humble enough to hear something important even when it contradicts with what we think?

Listening is not easy, especially when we think we know the answers. We want to talk over the person who is speaking. We want to tell them we already know. But there is always something new we can learn, no matter who we are. I was watching a baking show recently where the amateur baker actually taught the ‘expert’ something about baking. The most important part was the expert was willing to say he had no idea and had learned something. He had learned something important from someone who had a fraction of the experience, training and expertise. And it came because he was willing to listen and learn.

God is always teaching us something. We can easily fall into the trap of thinking we understand. We can think we have it all figured out and we know what we are doing. Those are the times when everything seems to get shaken up. When our foundation is built on our knowledge only and we aren’t always learning, we will easily fall. It is when we are willing to be a student that we are constantly working on ourselves to become even better. Our foundations become much more solid when we listen and learn.

The Psalmist in today’s focus scripture seemed to get it. In Psalm 25, there is a desire to be taught, to be led, to be directed by God. What if we had that desire constantly? What if we were dedicated to being a student of God? What might change if we always sought to listen and learn lessons God is trying to teach us? We might find we are more equipped to be the followers he has called us to be.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 25:4-5

⁴Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
    teach me your paths.
⁵Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all day long.