We learned to eat, walk, talk, and read. Everything we learn takes time and effort. We often complain that it takes too long to learn some things.

Animals learn to eat, walk, and develop most of their communication skills soon after they are born. Why does it take so long for us to learn? Quite simply, that’s the way God created us. His plan requires that we make the necessary effort to learn anything. Some of our skills need a lifetime of demanding work. Some folks give up after a few years and never go on to learn the things that might help them to enjoy life.

All of us have reasons why we do not strive harder to understand some parts of the Bible. God has many truths in His Word that are not understood by our intellect. Rather, they are discerned by our spirits. Most spiritual truths require little intellectual ability. God desires that we have a heart and spirit that diligently seek His truth.

Praising God for everything is a mystery, and casual observers may pass it off as unimportant. Yet, God considers praise so important that He tells us to give thanks always for all things (see Ephesians 5:20). I believe He is speaking about a spirit of thanksgiving that He wants us to have.

When we lift a fork to our mouth, we do it the way we have done it thousands of times before. We don’t think about how we will walk; we just do it. The same is true for the thousands of actions we take each day. Whatever we do habitually becomes automatic. We do the same with our problems. We react to them exactly as we have learned to react.

How would you react now if your spouse should say, “I’m leaving”? If your doctor should say, “You will be dead soon”? If a police officer reports the arrest, injury, or death of someone you love? You have probably pre-determined how you would respond. Why is that? Because God has given each of us the ability to train ourselves for our responses to life’s unexpected events. This is part of His special gift to us of a free will. We can choose our attitudes, our responses.

The Bible is God’s handbook to help us prepare for the expected as well as the unexpected trials of life. We can follow His plan if we are willing to learn. He tells us to believe that He is working for our good in everything that happens to us (see Romans 8:28). When I first realized that was what He wanted me to do, I thought it was impossible. I prayed for my problems to go away. But difficulties came anyway and often stayed with me for years, regardless of how I felt or what I wanted.

Then, I learned the secret. If I trusted God to work everything for my good, He would give me His peace. He calls it the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). It’s beyond my understanding how it works – it just does.

If you haven’t learned to trust God to work everything for your good, I strongly recommend that you use as much time and effort as necessary to learn that way of living. It will give you far more peace and joy than you have ever imagined! (Reprint from December1996)