The School of Hard Knocks

We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.  Charles C. West

Have you been to the school of hard knocks.  This is not your most popular or sought after university.  Your degree is the hardest one to obtain and there are a lifetime of courses and the thing is you will never earn a degree, but you will earn an eternal reward.

You can't go to the school counselor and select your course based on your interest in any given subject.  Sometimes your subject chooses you and the choice is not ours and sometimes you are back in school when you least expect it.

Life is the school of hard knocks and the only way we can survive it is to put our faith in the One who created us. One of the benefits offered at this school is knowledge and wisdom but we must learn to determine the difference between the two.  We can gain knowledge in this school but if we don't learn to apply it to our lives it will never turn into wisdom.  That is why there are so many courses.  Because sometimes I am hard headed and need a refresher course from the school of hard knocks.  So I flunk it the first time and take it again the next semester. The only way to pass is to gain wisdom from the knowledge you gain from the school of hard knocks.

We also need to realize that we are not the only ones who have attended the school of hard knocks.  Moses spent 40 years in the school of hard knocks.  Then there was Joseph, and Noah and Jonah and the list goes on.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I thank You for sending me to the school of hard knocks for I will never learn how to lean on You if I don't take the courses designed just for me.  Father, I don't want to graduate from Harvard, I want to graduate to Heaven.

He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever—holy and awesome is his name.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.  To him belongs eternal praise. Psalm 111:9-10