“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires…. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Peter 1:3-4; 3:18).By John David Hicks
When September arrives, we think of clean notebooks, brand-new shoes, getting reacquainted with friends, and anxiety over the new teacher. Going back to school stirred mixed feelings among our classmates. Some of us went to school because the law required it, some of us went to see our friends, and some of us were excited to be learning.
Similarly, every Christian enters God’s School of Life where he is taught by the Holy Spirit. Daily you are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Our English word disciple is derived from the Latin word for student or pupil. But being a disciple involves more than just studying books. It is more like what we today would call an apprentice. An apprentice learns by hands-on experience, working with his teacher. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,” said Jesus, “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).
God’s School of Life, like any school, has those who just attend—individuals who come to play and be with their friends. Others want to learn just enough to get by. But some are committed to scholarship. They want to grow and mature in wisdom and knowledge. Thus, they do all their homework, work on extra assignments, and even stay after school with the teacher to learn more. These pupils stand out. They will “connect” with their teacher and pick up his enthusiasm, vision, values, and passion for the subject.
Other kids call those students “teacher’s pet” because that’s what they are. The teacher calls on them to tutor others and explain assignments, and at times he even gives them authority over the class in his absence. To get an A+ you must do more than pass the test; you must satisfy the teacher’s requirements and expectations.
The purpose of God’s School of Life is to train you as a spiritual leader—to excel with both God and man. The lessons are not taught in a classroom, but through tests, trials, and temptations. These experiences are then processed through the light of Scripture to learn what God is trying to teach us. The lessons must become a part of your character.
The Bible teaches that to “grow in grace” requires a commitment to obedience. “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you…. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:15-17, 21). Only as you obey will you comprehend morally and spiritually.
Let me repeat, there can be no growth in God’s grace apart from a commitment to obedience.
When thinking about God’s School of Life, always keep in mind three principles. First, the principle of commitment to obedience.
Picture in your mind a flight of stairs. When you first accept Jesus as your Savior and become a Christian, you are at the bottom of the stairs. As the Holy Spirit gives you insight and opportunity to obey, your obedience moves you up to the next step. If you take the opportunity to obey, you are given further insights and additional opportunities. With this step, the believer experiences a deeper fellowship, joy, peace, and wisdom. This is the way you grow and mature in the Lord.
But disobedience causes you to descend the stairs. You stop growing. As a result, God will not give you more insight, until you walk in the light you have (Matthew 13:12). Uncorrected over time, you become lukewarm and forsake your first love, as the apostle John warned the churches in Revelation. Your heart becomes hardened and you return to the ways of the world. The Bible consistently tells us we must not only hear the word of God, but also do what it says! Your choices to disobey or procrastinate stop your growth.
Second, the principle of lag time. Lag time is the time that elapses between when God reveals a truth and when you finally get around to obeying that truth.
Procrastination is one of the devil’s most subtle weapons. You put off your obedience—after all, you can do it later. This works on many Christians, unless they have a commitment to obedience. Satan wants to disguise your disobedience and claim that you will do it some time in the future. This makes you feel better, but you have been duped into disobedience disguised as “future obedience.” The longer you put it off, the more likely you will not do it. A mark of growth in your Christian life is a decrease in the lag time in your obedience. Your commitment goal should be to reduce the lag time to zero.
Third, the principle of the three second rule. Remembering this principle will keep you from temptation and help you to resist it the moment it comes up. Give yourself three seconds to run from temptation to victory—or to entertain temptation and be defeated.
To entertain temptation even for only a few moments weakens your resistance. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). David fell into sin because from the top of his palace he kept looking at Bathsheba, returning to the temptation over and over again. Run from temptation, like Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife. He honored the word of the Lord when he said, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). He escaped with a pure heart, and God honored him.
Remember, you have three seconds to decide to run from temptation. The longer you wait, the stronger the temptation.
This kind of obedience only comes from a total commitment to do the will of God. Jesus defined discipleship in Luke 9:23-24, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Then he adds, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
To deny yourself is not giving up some pleasures or possessions, but your very self. You stop thinking about selfish desires and deal with yourself as if you don’t exist. Rather than treating yourself as though you were far and away the most important thing in existence, following Jesus means to forget that self exists. To take up your cross is to be prepared to face death by crucifixion, to be identified with Jesus in surrender, suffering, and sacrifice. It means you will endure the worst that man can do in order to be true to God. To find the genuine life of God, give your life and you will save it.
Romans 12:1-2 reads in The Message, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Only the believer who is totally committed to God can mature in the things of God. Some believers obey God because it’s good and best for them. Others obey because it’s acceptable and pleasing to them. But supreme devotion comes out of a passion for God Himself and God’s will is found to be perfect. The apostle Paul says you are no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but are transformed by a renewed mind. The New English Bible sums it up: “Then you will be able to discern the will of God, and to know what is good, acceptable, and perfect.” Oswald Chambers says, “The resentment of discipline of any kind will warp the whole life away from God’s purpose.” A committed life has the power to recognize God’s will and purpose.
In God’s School of Life, the examinations come in the practical areas of our experiences, not in the classroom. Basic to everything is a commitment to obedience. Moving on from that commitment, you are required to learn some basic lessons of God’s ways—defined as the way He works. If you flunk the lesson, you must take it again and again until you learn it. Sometimes the Lord will review His ways again with you. You must understand God’s purpose and His ways.
In the following Bible study, take time to look up the scriptures and let the Holy Sprit be your counselor, teacher, and guide. Oswald Chambers says in The Moral Foundations of Life, “An hour or half an hour of attention to and meditation on our own spiritual life is the secret of progress.” Commit some time and study to satisfying the Holy Spirit’s requirements and expectations.
Most Christians can quote Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Verse 29 tells us why He works in all things for your good. “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” God uses problems, trouble, and tests to conform you into the likeness of Jesus. God is developing your character. In the process you get to know, trust, and love Him. Faith is born out of a relationship.
To know God’s ways is to know Him intimately. Because you cannot have faith in God unless you trust Him, God will put you into situations and tests so you will trust Him. All temptation centers on this one thing: Will you trust God and believe His Word? As you prove to yourself that God loves you, keeps His word, and meets your deepest need, faith grows. God can now give you more responsibility and authority in His kingdom because you have more faith in Him. You now trust Him in more areas. If you fail the test, God will put you through another test, because He loves you. If you don’t understand this process, you will feel persecuted and forsaken by God.
Here are some “problems” God will put you through, sooner or later, in His School of Life. Take one each day for the next three weeks. Look up the scriptures and meditate on the problem, the test, and God’s answers. This will help you to know God’s ways better.
Problem 1 You live in the atmosphere of hurry. You are so busy working in the church, helping others, and serving the Lord that you have no time for daily devotions and no time to wait on God in His presence.
Test: Obedience Mankind wants obedience. God wants a loving relationship, then He will get obedience. To know anyone, including God, you must spend time with that person. This is your first priority as a Christian. Satan fights you here more than any other place.
Answer Exodus 16:4; Matthew 4:4; 6:33; 7:7-11; 1 John 5:14-15; James 1:19.
Problem 2 You become sluggish, slothful, and satisfied with yourself.
Test: Lack of zeal Live with all your strength. If your gift is leadership, “do it with zeal” (Romans 12:8). “Never flag in zeal, boil in the spirit!” (Romans 12:11). “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Use little pieces of time lest they go to waste. Take time to plan your days, weeks, months, and years. God guides your steps, but you should plan your path. You must learn to live with pressure and deadlines, to love productivity. Have one passion: for Jesus and Jesus alone.
Answer Ephesians 5:16; John 9:4; Galatians 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Colossians 1:29; Matthew 11:27-28; Philippians 4:7-8; Isaiah 64:4.
Problem 3 People fail you, hurt you, and talk about you, even the people in the church. You want to forget them and write them off.
Test: Unity We are to love all believers. The church is God’s idea. Any group that desires to do God’s will over their own will have unity. You are to love the church as Jesus did. Be a person who loves both friend and foe—confident in the grace of God to work in everything for His good. Manifest a love for people; this is what life is about.
Answer Ephesians 5:25; Matthew 5:14-16; Colossians 1:4-5; John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Peter 5:5.
Problem 4 Your life is empty, aimless, with no purpose.
Test: Purpose God can give you a vision for how your life can be used by Him. This vision will build your character and give meaning to your life. Every church, every ministry, every endeavor for God is the result of someone’s vision. Faith in God is embedded in God’s Word. Periodically take a half-day retreat with a Bible, a notebook, and a hymnbook. God has promised to lead you.
Answer Luke 19:10; Acts 1:8; John 1:6; l8:37; Genesis 45:8; Esther 4:14; Romans 8:28-31; Acts 26:16; Joel 2:28; 2 Kings 6:15-17; Romans 10:17.
Problem 5 God promotes and gives authority to someone else instead of you. And that person is not as experienced or gifted as you are.
Test: Humility Will you pray for that person, give him your loyalty and support? Humility exhibits the Spirit of Jesus and is the unconscious result of fellowship with God.
Answer Acts 20:19; Romans 12:3, 9-10; 13:1-5; Philippians 2:3; Ephesians 4:1; John 2:17; Matthew 7:15.
Problem 6 God puts a younger Christian across your path who is more experienced in God’s ways than you are.
Test: Jealousy Will you be critical and close him out, or give encouragement, appreciation, and recommendation? All who want to impress others will be full of jealousy or envious.
Answer 1 Kings 13; Deuteronomy 1:37; Joshua 3:28.
Problem 7 You are led into service and give hours of work and prayer, but it is not seen or recognized by others. Your efforts in the kingdom are not appreciated.
Test: Motives Do you serve God or man? Is your labor and enthusiasm for God’s glory, or is it for yourself, to be honored by men more than by God? Self-absorption destroys Christian character.
Answer John 12:43; 1 Thessalonians 2:3; Ephesians 6:6; Luke 6:35. Do something for someone that no one but God knows about—Psalm 115:1.
Problem 8 When others find fault, criticize, or even lie about you, how will you react? Will you respond by criticizing? By harboring resentment? By self-justification? Anyone who is in leadership or who accomplishes anything will be criticized. If you take criticism personally, you will never make it as a spiritual leader. Criticism is one of Satan’s favorite weapons to get you to give up. Yet God can use that situation to humble you and build your character. Seek God in humility to see if there is truth or partial truth to criticism, learn from it, and grow.
Test: Pure heart God is the true Judge. He is the one you are trying to please. When your heart is pure before God, what does it matter what men say?
Answer James 3:14; 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; Psalm 19:16, 26-27; Luke 6:27-28; Mark 11:25; Isaiah 54:17; 1 Peter 5:5.
Problem 9 God will allow the devil to attack you to see: a) if you recognize the source of the trouble; b) if you will use your spiritual armor; c) if you will fight in the flesh or in the Spirit.
Test: Learning to war in the Spirit a) Do you know your authority over the enemy? b) Do you know scripture to quote when the enemy comes? c) Are you wearing your spiritual armor?
Answer Hebrews 11:17; Luke 10:19; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8; 4:4; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 12:11; Matthew 18:18; 1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:10-18.
Problem 10 You are put into difficult problem situations. You will never have your act together; if you do, you are not living by faith (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).
Test: Praise Will you praise the Lord in the midst of your trouble, or will you grumble like the children of Israel in the wilderness? “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me” (Psalm 50:23 NKJV).
Answer Philippians 4:4-6; Psalm 34:1; James 1:2-4.
Problem 11 You don’t have the money or worldly goods you would like.
Test: Having nothing, you still obey and trust God Pray that you will pass the test and trust God with your worldly goods (or lack).
Answer Job 1:9; 1 Samuel 26:23; Matthew 6:19-21, 33; Colossians 4:10; Luke 12:15; 1 Timothy 6:8-10; Philippians 4:11; Psalm 62:10; Proverbs 11:28; Jeremiah 9:23-24; James 5:1-6; Psalm 37:1-2.
Problem 12 You are put into a fearful situation of danger.
Test: Fear vs. faith Will you panic, run away, run to man, or seek God? Everything but faith in God will produce fear. Faith counts on God. Faith must be tried to be pure.
Answer Hebrews 10:35; 1 John 4:18; Psalm 23; 31:15; 32:7; 90; 127:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:57-58.
Problem 13 God has put you into circumstances so you will relinquish to Him all that is dear to you: loved ones, job, and possessions…even to the point of death.
Test: Consecration Will you trust Him with all that is dear to you? You may have to give back to God what He has promised you. Only when you relinquish all will you have peace.
Answer 2 Timothy 1:12; Job 5:8-9; Proverbs 3:5-6.
Problem 14 God tells you to do something, but the circumstances make it impossible. This does not necessarily mean that it is a financial impossibility; it could hinge on other factors.
Test: Faith Believe that God will supply the need or remove the circumstance. Thank Him that on the basis of His command He will provide. Sometimes you need to persevere in your faith when all appears to be lost. Don’t be afraid to step out on faith and follow God each day, even though you don’t understand where He is leading. Trust Him for the long haul.
Answer Luke 1:37; Philippians 1:6; 4:19; James 1:6-8; 2:14-26.
Problem 15: God put something in your heart about your future, but it seems as if you have been waiting for years for its fulfillment. You do all God says in obedience and nothing happens.
Test: Patience Will you still believe even though time goes by? God does not honor unbelief. What God says He will do, He will complete. Stand firm! Even though it may seem impossible, God can still accomplish your vision.
Answer Hebrews 10:35; Job 23:13; Psalm 138:8; 105:18-19.
Problem 16 The ability and ministry God has given you go unrecognized.
Test: Patience Wait for God’s timing. Remember the stories of Joseph, Moses, and David. Each of them had to wait for God’s timing. It is His ministry, not yours.
Answer Job 23:10; Matthew 13:57; Ephesians 1:11.
Problem 17 Family and friends don’t have your spiritual hunger.
Test: Longsuffering Will you nag and bear resentment, or will you love and encourage? Longsuffering is the capacity to suffer—long. Trust God to deal with the hearts of people who don’t live up to your expectations. Your job is to love them into the kingdom. Remember that God and others have been patient with you. If you are longsuffering, you are not selfish. If you are selfish, you won’t be longsuffering.
Answer 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 1 Peter 4:8.
Problem 18 God removes your security, the people and things you are leaning on.
Test: Security Whether God alone is sufficient. When God is real, everything else is shadow.
Answer Psalm 118:8; Philippians 3:8; 4:18; Colossians 1:17; 2:9.
Problem 19 God has withheld all feeling or conscious knowledge that He is working through you.
Test: Persistence Will you operate on faith or feeling? God works in spite of how you feel.
Answer Hebrews 11:6; Romans 14:23; 2 Corinthians 12:10; Isaiah 40:29.
Problem 20 You are disappointed with church because you are not getting spiritually fed.
Test: Maturity You need to be a teacher, not an observer. God will feed you. Anyone who desires to lead in the church must be capable of teaching others.
Answer 2 Corinthians 5:15; Psalm 9:10; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 20:20.
Problem 21 What I call a “mystery bag” is standard issue in God’s School of Life. Sooner or later there will be problems you can’t explain and people who disappoint you. Give them to God—put them in your mystery bag. Ask God to explain them later or when you get to heaven. Regardless what others do or say, regardless of situations you don’t understand, get your eyes off them and serve the Lord. Over the years I have put many things in my mystery bag—people who let me down; situations where things just didn’t work out; disappointments. God will one day explain them to me. Until then, I look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.
When God wants to produce a mature saint whom He can trust with leadership, He isn’t afraid to take as much time as He needs to develop him. Remember Moses, who spent 40 years in the desert. It took time to learn not to depend on his feelings, to quit striving in his strength, and to let God work through him.
I say this not to dishearten you, but to help you to settle down to growth in grace. Keep your eyes off yourself, off blessing, off experiences, off feelings, and on God. You will learn this in God’s School of Life.