“A man was out walking in the desert when a voice said to him, “Pick up some pebbles and put them in your pocket, and tomorrow you will be both happy and sad.” The man obeyed. He stooped down and picked up a handful of pebbles and put them in his pocket. The next morning he reached into his pocket and found diamonds and rubies and emeralds. And he was both happy and sad. Happy he had taken some – sad that he hadn’t taken more. And so it is with education.” ~ William Cunningham

This illustration is so true when it comes to education. The word educate comes from the Latin word educ0, meaning to draw out from within. Think about that…it is OUR responsibility to educate ourselves on the journey of life. We are called to draw out from within us the very nature and Kingdom of God. Remember Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within.”

What did Jesus mean by this?

He meant, that when we are born again it is no longer us that lives but Christ that lives within us. Therefore, we are able to understand the will of the Lord by drawing it out from within us. Everything we need in life to be successful is within us as followers of Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells us, leads us, and empowers us to live victorious. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Are we reaching in and drawing out all that is within us?”

One of the greatest ways to draw out what God is showing us is to make sure we learn from our experiences. It has been said that experience is the best teacher, but not necessarily. The best teacher is EDUCATED EXPERIENCE – meaning that we learn something from our experiences. You will be destined to repeat your experiences if you are not learning anything from them. Just because you went through something does not automatically mean you learned from it. Many people have EXPERIENCED great things but have NOTHING to show for it. They are not better off or any wiser. However, when we evaluate and take the time to reflect and learn from our experiences, we can always make improvements.

Remember the Children of Israel? They wandered in the desert for forty years because they couldn’t learn from their experiences. In reality, they had a one year experience and repeated it for forty years! They consistently experienced God’s provision yet always complained and questioned God at every corner. They didn’t get it. They did not have an educated experience. They simply had an experience, but never let that experience teach them.

There is always a lesson to be learned when we are going through situations in our life. The good, the bad, and the ugly all have a lesson to be learned from. Going through certain circumstances in our life doesn’t always mean God caused it, but it does mean He can speak to us through it. Remember Joseph’s story? His brothers turned against him, threw him in a pit, then sold him into slavery in Egypt. Yet, through all this Joseph stayed faithful to God and eventually, through a series of circumstances, became the ruler of Egypt. When his brothers came to him this is what he said…

Genesis 50:20

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

What perspective Joseph had! Can you imagine going through the circumstances he experienced by his own family members? Yet, it all turned around and God used it for something great. God has a way of working things out for His glory. We must learn from our experiences and allow God to use them to teach us. Never waste an experience by not specifically learning something from it.

Pick up the stones that God has placed in your life by drawing out every lesson He is teaching you.