Series: Blessed Be
Philippians 2:13 ESV
Every day in every way, God helps me when I rise and when I sleep. God also really helps me when I draw and when I write.
Even though I have been a person who loved to write since junior high school, I know I’Ve been a student.
In high school I had a gifted English teacher who encouraged me.
In college I had a very difficult professor who was a genius. He gave me great tools in my tool box. He was tough and others told me he was so relentless they despised the class. But because he was relentless, I dug in and I was determined to succeed. I learned more from him that I can even imagine. He gave me the desire to write well.
My Old Testament professor in Seminary was relentless. He was so relentless that at one point I cried and cried because I thought the class was too difficult. I wanted to quit but I knew I had to have a good grade in his class in order to complete my degree program.
So, instead of quitting I prayed. I turned to God and asked for help. I prayed every day. I prayed about every assignment. I really came to a point where I relied on Jesus to help me succeed.
Jesus did not let me down.
When I realized and admitted I needed God’s help, everything started to change. Every difficult assignment started to make sense. God was my ever-present helper.
In Seminary I had other tools I added to my toolbox. My New Testament professor gave me a burning desire to seek God as I studied. I realized I wanted to hear God from scripture. I came to a point where I really really wanted to listen for God’s truth.
Then for my language component I prayed and I thought I was supposed to study Biblical Hebrew.
Everyone in my circle of friends at Seminary told me Koine Greek was difficult but not as difficult as Biblical Hebrew. I decided because of that I would take Koine Greek. However, God had a different plan. When it came time to register for the class I did not have peace about registering to take Greek. Because I didn’t have peace about it, I prayed and I asked God why I was struggling to register. I kept hearing the word ‘Hebrew’ and so against ‘my better wishes’ I decided to study Biblical Hebrew.
Oh my I can’t tell you how difficult it was for me!
Without a doubt it was the most difficult set of courses I’d ever taken.
Hebrew two was my most difficult course because Hebrew Grammar required a great deal of memorization. I’ve never been good at memorizing a lot of data and I’Ve been told it was because of a childhood illness. My grade was very low, but because it was a passing grade it was accepted. The low grade did not significantly change my overall GPA because it was pretty high.
I was able to advance to Hebrew three and I did just fine.
By the time I took my final course in Biblical Hebrew I was flying and I loved it!
Throughout my journey to learn Hebrew there were times when I cried and I prayed. I’d look at my assignments and I’d pray more. I came to a point where I prayed, waited, and then studied when God told me to study.
Even in my most difficult moments I can now see that God had a plan for me.
God called me.
God worked with me (and that wasn’t always an easy task).
God gave me a desire to continue to study scripture.
It is one of the greatest academic joys of my life!
I LOVE studying scripture.
I love it so much that I have continued to learn more about Biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek on my own.
It became a passion for me.
Philippians 2:13 tells us. “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Throughout my journey God has been working in me.
Even in my most difficult and dark hours when I cried and cried because I couldn’t seem to remember Hebrew Grammar when I took a test, God was with me.
God knew I would pass.
God knew the low grade would not matter.
God also knew in the end, nothing I worried about would matter.
God was right.
Today I love it that I took Biblical Hebrew. And…when I have a question about the grammar, I can look it up. I didn’t really need to memorize it.
In the end, my struggle was to will and work for “God’s good pleasure”.
It WAS all worth it and it became a great blessing!
Spiritual Practice: Be Thankful
Thank Jesus/God for the ways he has worked in you.
In God, Deborah
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