Being Teachable
Would you consider yourself to be teachable?
Verse of the Day
Those who listen to instruction will prosper; those who trust the Lord will be joyful.
Today’s Devotional
This verse is a great follow up to yesterday’s verse about wisdom and foolishness. Today, we also get a 2-for-1 message about what trust looks like. First, we must be teachable. Second, we must choose joy.
First, let’s talk about being teachable, or “those who listen to instruction”. Yesterday I listed many ways to grow in wisdom, but there was one method that I left off. (Because I knew what was coming today.) Listening to the instruction of others is a path to wisdom and a way to grow in faith. Do you trust that God can use other people to show you things you cannot see? Do you trust that someone else might know more than you? Are you humble and willing enough to learn from the experience of others, or do you need to learn everything the hard way?
I have people in my life who are willing to tell me the truth, even if that truth may be hard to hear. I cannot imagine navigating my life without this kind of wisdom and instruction. But there is a warning here. We must choose carefully who we get our instruction from. I choose my people based on the fruit I see in their life. That requires having spent some time around these people to see if they are living the kind of life I admire and want to model. That takes effort and intention. This also requires putting ourselves in situations (repeatedly) where we will be around people who can instruct us.
The other warning has to do with being willing to be teachable. When someone is giving me input about my life, if my instant reaction is “But you just don’t understand my specific situation”, then I am not being teachable. A wise person does not have to have lived through my exact scenario to give me instruction and perspective. That’s not how it works. Many times in my life, God has given me wisdom and instruction through others and I refused to listen. Because of that, I had to learn the lessons God was trying to teach me in a much more painful way. In my experience, God gives me the opportunities to learn lessons through the wisdom of others. But I must trust God enough to listen, learn, and act.
The next part of today’s verse says that trust will lead to joy. My personal belief is that joy is a choice that comes with trusting God. I can trust that God will come through while still choosing to fret and wring my hands about it until He shows up. Or…I can trust, completely let go, and choose joy that God will prevail. That’s what I call ALL IN trust and surrender. And honestly, that’s a bigger version of trust than I have today. But it is certainly what I am working toward.
The question that keeps surfacing for me is, “Do I really trust WHO God is, or is my trust limited to a situation-by-situation basis?” Can I trust who God is and what He has taught me about His character even if everything in my life is falling apart? That, my friends, is a great (and very difficult) question.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How have you had to learn something the hard way instead of listening to wise instruction?
How can you learn to be teachable today?
Who do you need to foster a relationship with from whom you can receive Godly instruction?
How can you move toward ALL IN trust?
How can you choose joy today as you trust God?
How can you trust Who God is instead of what He can do for you?