Learn now or later, but hopefully you will learn!
Last summer I went surfing with my daughter when I get stung, not once, but twice by a stingray. I got stung both times on my right foot, once on the bottom and once across the top of the middle toe.
It was my fault. I was told they were out there. I simply got so engrossed in catching waves that I forgot to do the surfer shuffle. It’s where you move your feet through the sand rather than walking on top of it. This causes the stingrays to swim away. Instead, I kept stepping on them, which resulted in being stung.
I obvious was too thick headed to learn from my first mistake. It took two stings for it to sink in! And because I didn’t, that middle toe droops causing me to constantly stub it!
Scripture tells me that I’m an imperfect perfect person (Hebrews 10:14). God already sees me as perfect, but He also knows that I’m imperfect until I leave this planet. Thus, I can either learn from my mistakes or repeat them.
Our God is a God of grace, which means I will be forgiven for those mistakes. But if I fail to learn from those mistakes, there can be consequences like a droopy toe. If I had learned from the first sting and started shuffling my feet, my toe would not droop today.
Learn the lesson Jesus is trying to teach you now. It will save you stubbed toes later!

Looking up is sweeter than looking within.
Last time I talked about certain fruit trees producing zero fruit this past harvest season.
Among other reasons for being so frustrating was that I’d done everything the so-called experts said to do. I even used a few tips from fellow amateur fruit growers like myself. Armed with all this information, my fridge was still empty.
I’m at my wits end on what to do; and yet, it’s the perfect place to be – if I’m willing to look up, instead of within for the answer. Looking within myself, which also includes listening to the so-called experts, keeps me in control, which only leads to frustration.
This is also true of our walks with Jesus. We must let the Spirit of God bring us to the point where we’re ready to change what we’ve been doing or failing to do. We then must be willing to listen to and follow the only Person who can produce the sweet tasting fruit of life change – the Father.
My friends, realize that you don’t have the answers. Believe that He does. Then trust Him by actually doing what He says to do to make your life better. Our Father indeed knows best for us.

Hang in there with hope!
Only my orange, apple, peach (though not as prolific) and pear trees produced fruit this year. My two nectarine, apricot, and plum trees, however, gave me absolutely nothing but blossoms and green leaves.
All that work during the preceding months of watering, pruning, weeding and organically fertilizing them for zero fruit was more than disappointing. It was downright frustrating.
Why put all that work in for zero fruit? Should I pull out those unproductive trees and lessen my water bill and sweat equity? No. Why? Hope. I remember eating great tasting nectarines, plums and apricots the year before.
Yes, I was disappointed in their lack of production, but I just spent a couple of hours in dripping sweat heat pruning these trees. I did it because of hope. They produced before and they will again.
Life change takes time. I wish the reality were different, but it is not. Yes, we all want and pray for the miraculous change…yesterday. Yes, we’re tired of being hurt and hurting others. Yes, we’re tired of blowing it, even if those obedience lapses are getting further apart in certain areas.
Yet, when the Spirit doesn’t give us complete and total victory now, do we quit using our biblical FREEdom tools that produce life changing sweet Christlike character?
No. Why? Hope. Jesus changed our lives before and He will change them again. When it’s tough, hope and hope some more. Hang in there. Jesus promises to change your life now and for eternity.

Throw out the Old Testament and keep Act I in play.
The Bible is one book with one message written by One Author. Therefore, here is another statement that should never come off a Jesus believer’s lips – the Old Testament.
There is no such thing as an Old Testament. No, the Bible is a two act play with the same message: God loves each person and wants a personal relationship with them. This message is seen in both Act I and Act II.
For example, Act I Scene Psalm 71:19-24 states that God uses life’s challenges to make us more like Him, which results in joy and praising Him for doing it. Our God takes broken people and heals/saves/makes them whole. Act II Scene Hebrews 12:7-11 says the exact same thing. God uses challenges to make broken people whole, which results in praise.
We have a God who is the same yesterday, as He is today and will be for an eternity full of tomorrows.
This is why the Israelite nation could sing, “Give thanks to the LORD for His love endures forever” as they were marching into battle. They were told the battle belonged to God, who would bring about the victory. All they had to do was count on God to be God in the midst of that battle.
Give thanks for today’s challenges. Your God is in the change life business. He’s done it before and you can count on Him to do it again…in your life.

Wrong answer!
The following phrase should be stricken from the mouth of a Jesus follower, “I don’t do that because I’m a Christian.” This statement is so far off the mark, it’s pathetic. Why? It’s simply not true!
God Himself calls our relationship with Him a covenant or an agreement of love, not a list of dos and don’ts. He shows us how to chart a course through life that will keep us from crashing onto the rocks of disappointment, despair and disillusionment.
He created the world; and thus, knows how it works. Thus, His life course will be the only way to experience true and lasting love, significant and security. He also knew that once Adam and Eve made their disastrous choice to navigate life apart from Him, the rest of us would follow their ill-fated course.
Therefore, He wrote down that agreement in black and white. He states that if we choose to stay true to His course, we will be protected and provided for in ways we could never anticipate until we get to the other side of the choice we must make. That’s His agreement or covenant with us.
And this agreement is made in love, which means His ways always have our best interest in mind – even if steering His way doesn’t feel right or seem logical to us at the moment. They will work.
So what should a believer in Jesus say? “I love Jesus so much and trust His judgment better than my own that I choose to listen to and follow Him in this situation. And you know what? His way works every time.” Now that is a reason Jesus could agree with.