God’s Training Ground

God’s Training Ground

I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

Ephesians 4:1-3

When I was first married, I thought I had the perfect man, but I soon discovered his faults, just as he discovered mine. When I had children, I imagined that with my guidance and training they could be molded into kind, gentle human beings. While they are good kids, they test my patience. More than anything else, my four kids cause me to depend on God’s strength. Yet it’s the daily molding toward humility, gentleness, and forgiveness that prepares us for the storms of life.

“The traditions surrounding birth, Communion, worship, baptism, marriage, and death reinforce Amish values. These values bear fruit in daily life, particularly through the practices the Amish are best known for—forgiveness and peace,” writes Nancy Sleeth. “The most public example of Amish forgiveness took place after the schoolhouse shooting in Pennsylvania. . . . The true test of any value system is how we act under duress. Forgiveness, like anything else we value, must be practiced on a regular basis. If we do not forgive the small infractions—the cranky response of a tired spouse, the tool a neighbor forgets to return, the missed appointment with an overworked friend—how can we forgive the bigger wrongs?”

Any right response I have during a large test results from the training and character God has built into me during the dailyness of life. I learn to forgive because of the people in my life who need forgiveness and who have given me forgiveness. I become humble because I fail often with my family and learn to confess those failures. I become patient because living with others shows me that I can’t have everything I want when I want it. We face large challenges in this life, but God prepares us for them in the course of everyday living.

Dear heavenly Father, help me to see small annoyances and frustrations as the training ground of life. Thank You for being there to provide wisdom and strength whenever I turn to You.