Remember Your Training

My husband(Kashk) met an incredible veteran while he was stationed in Alaska. He and his wife took Kashk under their wing and treated him like a son. We now call him Pop. Pop would spend Sundays at the dinner table with his wife, Kashk and a few younger soldiers sharing war stories. Let’s just say that Pop has been through a lot. His stories will make you laugh until your stomach hurts one minute  then have you crying a river the next. Pop is a great example of a warrior and a Christian. We truly love him! One of things he would always say to Kashk and his friends was “ Remember your training.” Reminding them that in the midst of whatever they face in their Army career to remember what they were trained to do. Yesterday, the Lord led me to read something I wrote in March. It helped me to see that the Lord is telling us to, “ Remember our training.”

Many of us currently are or have been in training.  We are facing different struggles and obstacles that require us to utilize all the Lord has been teaching us. Okay, so maybe you didn’t know that you are in training but I have to tell you that you are.  If you look at your life through God’s lens you will see that everything you’ve gone through is a teaching moment. This  realization will change your WHOLE LIFE. Stop looking at your past with shame and guilt, learn from it.  God wants us to activate the Word He has shown us and do what we have been trained to do. Instead of employing those “skills” we’ve gained ,we shrink back in fear like victims running from a predator. Think about what would happen if we took every experience and examined it:  “ God, what can I learn from this,” or “God  what could I have done differently.”

Throughout the  children of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land they struggled with remembering their training. Every time they faced an obstacle they complained, it’s like everything God did for them vanished from their memory. The children of Israel had provision amnesia. They forgot that God was with them. He was a pillar of cloud in the day and fire by night. God provided everything they needed on their journey. He even parted the Red Sea and they walked on dry ground. Let those images soak in your mind for a second. Through the cloud  he gave them shade in the day so that the sun wouldn’t burn them and the fire was a guiding light  at night. When they came to the Red Sea, their greatest obstacle thus far, it became a path to the other side. If only some of us would see that sometimes our greatest obstacle is the path to the other side. The Lord used this exact moment to destroy the Egyptians while preserving the Israelites. The “sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left(Ex 14:22).” There is no human explanation for this miracle, but it was a sign to them that God was with them.

God always has a way to remind us of His presence in our lives. That is not for His benefit, because He doesn’t need anything from us. The benefit is solely for us!  In times where it seems like all hell is breaking out around us….  He’s saying “Remember your training!! Was I not with you all this time, why would I leave you now!”  When we encounter situations that require us to employ faith and endure, God’s word should be a comfort for us. Not just His written word but the manifestation of His word in our lives! We cannot forget the Word that have been  revealed to us! On numerous occasions a particular scripture has stuck out to me, but in that moment I didn’t recognize it’s significance. Time passes and all of a sudden BOOM, a situation happens where that word is just what I NEED! Life is about endurance and God gives us the tools to endure whatever comes our way! But remember endurance doesn’t always look the same. I might be enduring on my knees pushing my way through while you are standing up with your hands lifted! What matters is that our eyes are fixed,  on Jesus, the living word! Endure! Remember your training. With tears running down your face, broken, uncertain of what’s next remember your training! God has already given you everything needed for godliness!

 Last week, I struggled to remember my training. In the midst of the test I couldn’t see pass how I felt. I couldn’t see pass my anger and I made a choice. Subconsciously, I negated my training  and reverted back to my former self. Someone who was not free through Christ but someone who treasured her flesh over her spirit. But when the Lord checked my spirit and corrected me, I humbled myself in repentance. What helped me to repent was my training. I remembered David who expressed to God that he had sin against God and no one else! 5 years ago it was David’s repentance in Psalm 51 that snatched me out of a place of guilt and shame! Although that experience was difficult I thank God for the lessons He taught me through it. Remembering our training requires that we use our ears to listen, eyes to see and hearts to believe. It’s not just about reading your bible everyday, but allowing it to take root within you! We must be doers of the Word, not allowing our hearts to become callous. . Remember what God says. He has already prepared us for what we are going through, it’s up to us to apply it!

You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  Deuteronomy 8:2 NASB

But our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul.HEBREWS 10:39 AMP

‘ For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.’ ROMANS 15:4 NASB

‘So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.  Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT

With Love through Christ, Nadesha.