Understanding


Psa 119:34  Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall 

	observe it with my whole heart. 


	It was a new section in Math class and she had been gone for the teacher's 

instruction of how to manipulate numbers in this new way. She had a whole page 

of problems that were supposed to be completed before the following morning, but 

as she tried to somehow figure it out, there was this big wall that appeared 

before her mentally, obstructing any passage to the other side of understanding 

this stuff. She knew it wasn't an option of whether or not she would be getting 

this done, she would most certainly have to keep trying until she managed to 

grasp the concepts. It seemed, though, that the harder she tried, the wall just 

grew higher and the possibility of understanding any of this became more remote. 

After trying unsuccessfully for several minutes, she finally found an excuse to 

become sidetracked with something else that was much less challenging and a 

thousand times more enjoyable. 

	She was not allowed to remain in that place of escape, though. Her father, 

returning home from work, found her there and wanted to know how her homework 

was progressing. He offered to try and help her with it and she reluctantly 

began to show him the difficulty she was having. Upon reading the instructions 

and checking out the problems, memories began to surface of having learned this 

same stuff many years ago. Before long he, with his renewed understanding, began 

to try and show her how to do the problems. The barrier walls had risen so high 

that it took awhile before there was any progress made. Anxiety resisted any 

attempts to simplify and bring light to the new methods. When she finally was 

able to settle down, though, and open up to the understanding as it was being 

shown to her, it was like a light bulb was turned on. What had been so 

incredibly impossible a few moments prior was now not only possible, but really 

kind of fun. (Of course she wouldn't admit it) What had been something to be 

completely avoided, was now an experience that really wasn't all that bad. All 

it took was the understanding that was given to her by her father. She could now 

complete the lesson with zero mistakes. 

	Often there is something set before us that greatly challenges confidence 

in our ability to make it through successfully. There is a lesson to complete 

that includes many problems, which are way past our level of understanding. The 

more we try, the more this wall rises up before us to further prohibit our 

passage to the other side. We just can't seem to get a visible manifestation of 

something we need in our lives, or there is a difficulty in our flesh that we 

just can't seem to overcome. It seems like the more we try, the more frustrated 

we can get, to the point that we just find something else to distract us that is 

less challenging and, for the moment, much more enjoyable. If we continue to 

abide in the house of the Lord, though, our Father is sure to call us from our 

place of escape.  He will listen patiently to the explanation of our 

difficulties, and then, when we finally calm down enough to hear His Word and 

follow His simplified examples, understanding will come. The great barrier wall 

will be removed and we will be able to enter into the land of understanding in 

that area. No longer just avoiding the challenge, overcoming it will be an 

enjoyable experience of spending time with the Father and mastering the 

righteous ways He has shown. 

	Completing the whole lesson without a mistake, we will continue to learn 

that following His ways can be our delight and joy when we are doing so with 

Him.


Psa 119:35  Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I 

	delight. 




5/2/04