Trust Your Sensei

“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

Hebrews 12:11


I enjoy the cheesy movie “The Karate Kid” where much of the plot has to do with a young boy learning painful disciplines that seem like torture but whose Sensei knows will serve to make him a champion one day. One of the movies main characters is a teenage boy named Daniel who is being given karate lessons by his Japanese apartment maintenance man where he lives. Daniel wants to learn karate and Mr. Miyagi agrees to teach him. Mr. Miyagi’s methods of training surpassed the teenagers comprehension. Daniel saw no value in the tasks he was given and actually thought Mr. Miyagi was just using him for free manual labor. The “wax on wax” off and “paint the fence” techinques made no sense to the young student.

Our relationship with God is a lot like this movie. We come to God asking Him to teach us how to live holy lives and then we often struggle and complain about the methods the Lord lays out for us to transform us. Don’t worry, Jesus isn’t calling us to wax the car or paint the fence to learn how to be a champion in life. What God is calling each of us to do is trust Him and to take Him at His word which says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

You might be thinking how is studying the Bible going to make me successful, or fix my marriage, or help me raise my kids or assist me in my job? The answer is not complex, the more you get into God’s Word the more God’s Word gets into you! Who would have thought reading the Bible is God’s method of teaching us and molding us into the people He desires us to be and who down deep in our hearts we all want to be. Real lasting change happens as Romans 12:3 tells us when we, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Get in the Word and let the Word get into you!

I LOVE YOU!