Life is for Learning

July 8, 2024

In some of my essays, I have mentioned my personal problem of being slow on the uptake. That makes the adage “Life is for the learning” somewhat difficult for me to accomplish. I am not always in a state of mind favorable to listening to advice, thus making conclusions from experiences — whether good or bad — a near impossibility. Yet, most importantly, keeping my mind open to the counsel of God, Jesus, and the Bible becomes a hit or miss occupation.

For example, when I read in the Bible that a person must work or not eat, the Holy Spirit convinced me that I should go out and get a job. (I have also written that, for numerous reasons, I failed to grow up during adolescence and was, by then, in my twenties…)

Starting at Temp jobs, I began that journey. I had done odd jobs like mowing lawns, but that business had been a total failure, because I was charging rates of a 15 year old — again, stuck in an adolescent mindset. Regardless, the Temp jobs were only paying for bus fare and lunch, and I was still living with Mom and Dad — not carrying my weight there, either.

One day, while riding the bus downtown to get my next job assignment, I saw this one building which I saw on each and every one of these bus rides… Even so, this time its white paint lit up like Dayglo. Then, to my surprise, I heard this quiet voice calmly saying, “Go there, and I’ll get you a job.”

Long story short, I went there Thursday morning, got a physical Friday, and started to work Monday morning. It was an Agway Seed Mill and had two “bull crews.” I was put on the lead crew. All day long, we loaded and unloaded boxcars full of bagged seed and bulk seed.

So, one, I learned how to keep my hands on the plow and to work as a team. (Also, I found the enjoyment of working with others.)

Then, I learned this Bible verse to be true: “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” — Proverbs 3:6, New Living Translation. Still, I was learning at an elementary level. More growing was needed.

This job was seasonal, but I could collect Unemployment after we got the seed out to the Farmers by the start of the Spring Planting Season.

Then, the Agway Seed Mill moved out of town.

I was not looking forward to going back to the Temp Services. I was now earning Union wages, and did not want to go back to subsistence living.

As a Union member, I had pictured the Trades Unions with their “bench” where members wait for job assignments based on Seniority. So, I called the Union to find out if they knew of any hirings. They did. Same Union, and the facility was right across the street from the Seed Mill!

Started work on Monday.

So, two, God will provide and light the road He has set before us.

While at that facility, I got an inward prodding to become a Union Rep. Starting as a department Steward my coworkers later voted me as Chief Steward. I wanted to be the best for the sake of my coworkers and therefore started Cornell’s Labor Studies program.

My opinions and observations of the job my Local was doing was far from positive. I ran for Local President and won.

I write this, not to polish my own buttons, but rather to show what happens when Jesus opened the door, but then, I shut Him out.

After almost 30 years there, instead of going home or to do my work at the Union Office, I went to the nearby Bar and got way too drunk, went back onto Company property, got into an altercation with a fellow Employee, and was promptly fired the next day.

So, three, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.” — Proverbs 3:5–7, ibid.

The consequences of my choices, first were “blessed,” then were “cursed.” God had blessed and provided, but apparently I did not fully appreciate His workings for me, and decided I could go it alone now, being so “growed up.”

So, four, we do it to ourselves. It’s the natural thing. God didn’t bring Judgment on my head. I brought it on myself.

So, five, when the ground falls out from under us, we cannot blame God. He is “there” for us, but we are not always “there” for HIm.

Still, God didn’t abandon me even after I had abandoned Him, That simply is not in His character. Apparently, what I did happens more frequently than we would like to admit, and it is not unforgivable.

Life is for learning. Turning to God, Jesus, and the Bible is a lifelong lifestyle based on a personal relationship with the Living God… It’s not so much what we do, but who He is. All of this starts when we turn to Jesus.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” — Philippians 1:6, ibid.