Wisdom for Wednesday.....

.....from Elisabeth Elliot. Ms. Elliot (now Mrs. Gren) is one of my role models, someone whose faith, character, and graciousness inspire me. I'd like to be like her, except I don't want to suffer for years in Ecuador translating the Bible into an obscure language only to have it destroyed, wait for years to marry my first husband only to have him speared to death by tribesmen, or nurse my second husband through a slow death from cancer. Do you think I could just fast forward to the character and faith part without undergoing the hardships? Ah well.

There is a philosophy of secular education which holds that the student ought to be allowed to assemble his own curriculum according to his preferences. Few students have a strong basis for making these choices, not knowing how little they know. Ideas of what they need to learn are not only greatly limited but greatly distorted. What they need is help from those who know more than they do.

Mercifully, God does not leave us to choose our own curriculum. His wisdom is perfect, His knowledge embraces not only all worlds but the individual hearts and minds of each of His loved children. With intimate understanding of our deepest needs and individual capacities, He chooses our curriculum. We need only ask, 'Give us this day our daily bread, our daily lessons, our homework.'....... 

God's curriculum for all who sincerely want to know Him and do His will will always include lessons we wish we could skip.