in the Classroom of Life

By Randy Raysbrook (and Bill Mowry)
Navigator Representative

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For Christians, learning is not an event; it is a way of life. Proverbs 18:15 says, “Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights” (The Message). But how does one develop such a lifestyle of learning?

Most people associate learning with classrooms or universities. However, God’s definition is much broader. The Bible associates learning with the ordinary events of life. What if God lovingly designed all of life to teach and change us? Then each day becomes rich with lessons to be learned.

Everyday learning is a way to learn anything. From this discovery process, you can learn about any topic, in any place, at any time. You can learn from things like your daily routines, conversations, failures, victories – the stuff of God’s “classroom of life.”

God’s classroom differs from other learning settings. The lessons He has for us are often hidden in life’s ordinary routines and in relationships with people, what theologian Eugene Peterson calls “the splendor of the ordinary.” Think of it like a treasure hunt to discover gold. Learning becomes a partnership with the Holy Spirit in this treasure hunt, if we know the process.

King Solomon understood this. In Proverbs 1:20-21, he describes how wisdom is calling aloud in the streets. Yet, have you noticed that noisy streets can drown out wisdom’s voice if we are not carefully looking for it? A process for learning will equip us to carefully look.

What is everyday learning?

Everyday learning is following a simple process of Stop, Look, and Ask.

Consider this example of everyday learning from a country stroll in Proverbs 24:30-34. “I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.”

Notice the learning process in action. On an ordinary walk, you spot a vineyard overgrown with thorns and weeds. The ragged walls are in ruin. It catches your attention. You could keep walking, but you choose to stop and look. Now you look intently. You scan the area from side to side. And observe. You notice the big picture as well as the details. These observations lead you to ask questions.

Your questions dig beneath the obvious. “What’s going on here?” “Is there a pattern?” “Is there a relationship between a person’s character and the thorns and weeds?”

Next, you apply your heart to these observations. From stopping, looking, and asking, the Holy Spirit helps you understand and learn that whenever there is too much sleep, snoozing, laziness, or irresponsibility, poverty will come on that person like a bandit.

Now, how can you and I also practice everyday learning in today’s world?

Stop

In the often dizzying pace of the workplace, neighborhood, university, or home, we must deliberately stop and consider how God is at work around us, in us, and through us. We must resist the natural inclination to always keep moving.

Without stopping, we remain blind to God’s lessons for us. Some lessons could then whiz by us unseen. Try planning

• Regular times to stop and think about your activities
• To pause for a few minutes after a conversation or interesting experience and reflect on it
• To be totally still once a month and spend 1-2 hours reviewing your life

If we do not stop, we will not be able to take the next step, to look.

Look

We all know how to look . . . or do we? Careful looking is so important to life that Jesus links our failure to look as a failure to see spiritual truth. “You will be ever seeing but never understanding” (Matthew 13:14 NIV).

God expects that we will look at life and the world around us. Proverbs repeatedly challenges us with statements like, “You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two” (Proverbs 6:6, The Message). In other words, think about what you see and draw conclusions from it about how to live.

Looking is so important for spiritual growth that there are 32 different words in the Scriptures for noticing what is occurring around us! These words include: look, see, appear, behold, watch, examine, explore, peer, search, observe, and recognize.

You can look backward (at the past). After a busy day, you take a few minutes to look at what happened in the past few months or even years. You might recall people you met, feelings you had, or experiences that affected you. Then focus on one thing. Take some time to explore it in more detail.

Looking also includes viewing the present (what is happening currently in your life). Yesterday you surfed the net. You had a conversation at work. Today you played with the children, led a Bible study, or thought about the idea of recycling. Something catches your attention from this scan. This one thing could be a news event, a work dilemma, a new word from a conversation, or an insight from your six-year old. Stopping and looking leads you to asking.

Ask

Asking questions yields the real treasure. The Bible is full of questions—3,296 of them. In the Book of Psalms, there are more questions than there are Psalms. God has designed you and me to be question-askers. Why? So we could learn from everyday life. Questions are like the miner’s pick axe to break through the surface of things to discover the treasures hidden to the untrained eye.

Good questions to ask include

• Why do I think this event, conversation, or feeling is important to consider?
• What is unusual about this event or statement?
• Why do I think this is happening/has happened?
• What is this event, circumstance, etc. teaching me about God, life, or ministry?

As you start your day tomorrow, anticipate that God has a lesson for you. But to learn it, you must stop, look, and ask.

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About the Author: This article was originally written by Randy Raysbrook and Bill Mowry. It was revised by Randy Raysbrook for publication here. Randy Raysbrook has been on Navigator staff for over 30 years ministering to college students, professionals, and church leaders. He designs creative evangelistic and discipleship materials, and trains others in communication skills, as well as critical thinking and question asking. With a Ph.D. in higher education and Masters Degree in instructional communication, he is an associate professor at Colorado Christian University.