Lessons Learned

There are many, but here are a few things I've learned, or at least thought more about, over the last year:

1) What I'm good at (and feel particularly equipped to do) and what I enjoy doing are not always the same. I've learned to be (more) ok with enjoying things I'm not good at and still feeling their value. But I've also learned how to let some of those things go and embrace more of what I am actually made to do. Sometimes the two coincide, and that feels great!

2) God's plan is always good, but that doesn't mean it isn't sometimes terrifying. I spent a solid two weeks feeling almost convinced that God was calling me into full time ministry rather then med school.

3) God is not just redemptive (ie. redeeming, or perfecting/purifying the ways that the world is broken by our alienation from Him), but He is also creative. God is and does good because it is in His creative nature to create more good, not because of a need to react against our lack of good. He doesn't need us to be good, we need Him to be Go(o)d. This means that we're made to be creative too!

4) Observation. Interpretation. Application. They aren't just good Bible study steps, they are great steps to go through in almost any situation/text/conversation.

5) Fear of God, the kind we are commanded to have, is very different then fear of people/world/situations. The second kind makes us afraid to walk on water, the first makes us fear the God that made us actually able to do it. Sometimes they overlap, but not as often as I usually think they do. Fear of anything but God, I've learned, is almost never a good motivation or decision maker; but what exactly fear of God means/looks like, I'm still learning.

6) Interpretation and point of view is everything. Ok, maybe not everything, but a whole lot. Two people, presented with exactly the same set of facts, or involved in the same conversation or situation, can come away with entirely different interpretations. Different people/groups approach the same situations with different "toolboxes," different ways they are equipped to respond. Communication, I've learned, begins in understanding the other person's toolbox, and therefore the process by which they arrived at their interpretation of some set of facts. Learning this has required me to have a lot more grace for people.

7) There are multiple situations I've looked back on, or stepped back from, and have said, "wow, it really matters that I believe in an all powerful, loving, and strong God." I mean, I know it matters, but after encountering new life situations in the past year, I feel like I have new perspective on why it actually matters so much.

8) Voicing expectations of others, and needs for myself is necessary to healthy relationships.

9) My own comfort, in the general definition of the word, is pretty much never the most important thing in any situation. Not that being uncomfortable is a goal, but that it is never really supposed to be about me. Situations/conversations/relationships that are more about God then about me often lead me away from self-focused comfort, into discomfort, but also into a deeper idea of Comfort as a spiritual state rather then just a self-centered emotion.

10) People pleasing is dangerous ground to tread. In return for our faith in Him, God promises and gives us His pleasure. The pleasure of a person, in exchange for the pleasure of God, is like Esau's exchange of a bowl of MSG soup for his entire inheritance. Peace and pleasure-filled communion with God is our great reward, and it isn't only meant for the future.

Well, 10 seems like a good number to stop at. I didn't write in here much this year because I was always around people processing out loud. I'm planning on using it much more as a process palate next year when I interact less with people and more with text books.