“Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.”  [NKJV]

I have spent virtually all of my adult life in some form of teaching, especially Bible.  Many have said I’m a naturally born (or gifted) teacher.  My mind works that way; I really can’t help it.  “Life is a classroom” is something I strongly believe.  My wife and I — poor wife! — homeschooled all seven of our kids.  I say “poor wife” because Jenni went into nursing so she wouldn’t have to teach.  Then she married me and we (i.e., mostly she) started teaching our kids at home.  Now she’s got about three times the (classroom) teaching experience I have!  But our kids have turned out great, and we are thankful.  So when we read a verse like 2 Timothy 2:7, it really strikes at the educational process in our thinking.

Even with teaching our own kids at home, every teacher has hit that point of frustration when s/he is doing everything possible, employing every trick in the book trying to communicate a new idea or concept, and at least one student gets that glazed look on his face and his eyes turn to marbles.  And you as the teacher know it’s just not happening.  The student is not getting it, not understanding.

There are numerous differences between man and animals.  Perhaps the primary one is this: animals know, but humans know that they know.  In other words, we are aware of our existence or being as distinct from our environment.  Not so with animals.  Sure, they know some things, but they don’t know that they know them.  They don’t have a sense of identity, purpose and reason.  They just do what they do because of desire, instinct and repetition. For example, we have this cat that lives outside the house.  Every morning he comes up to our door and starts meowing for something to eat.  He probably figures that his meowing gets me to come out and feed him.  But if I were to say, “You know, I don’t feel like feeding that cat today,” he won’t get his food.  The cat doesn’t know this.  He only knows we have the food and he lets us know he’s hungry by meowing.  Nothing deeper than that.  So when the Scripture says we have or can gain understanding, it speaks of the built-in image of God in us.  God understands and so can we. There is no understanding with animals.  This is the premise or foundation for all real understanding.

Two primary components stand on this foundation for us to understand “all things” in 2 Timothy 2:7, one that we do and the other that God does.  Our part is to “consider.”  This word means to deeply ponder, reflect and meditate on, to give your mind to mentally focus on a topic, to search it out.  Many things these days seem to have largely crippled young people’s ability to consider in this way: technology that delivers everything instantly, enabling/smothering and otherwise dysfunctional parenting patterns, unchallenging and undisciplined schools that major in mediocrity (at best) and only teach to the test are perhaps the main reasons.  It is hard to figure out where the next generation of spiritual leaders will come from or what they’ll look like without them knowing how to consider the Scriptures.

The second component is “understanding”, what the Apostle Paul says the Lord will give.  The meaning of this word is “to set together”.  Someone said a long time ago that education takes place (or understanding is achieved) when a person suddenly sees a new connection between two isolated bits of information not seen before.  The best English word to picture this is “confluence”, where two streams meet to form one river.  Understanding comes when we first recognize what the Lord teaches us, and second when it joins or becomes a part of us.  The Lord gives this, or causes it to happen inside us.  He works in our minds to bring it about.  It is his work.  Of course, if we are trying to learn something and just can’t quite get it, our part, besides considering, is calling out to him fervently, desperately if need be.

What does it say about a God who wants us to understand strongly enough that he makes it happen?  Let’s answer this question with backdrop of 1 Corinthians 1:19 (NKJV), “For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent”.  God gives to each person what they truly want: either an understanding of his will that exalts him, or the inevitable results of an “understanding” of life from a worldly/earthly point of view: the ultimate loss of everything.  In this cosmic line of polar opposites, God is gracious, kind, loving and everything else to make us understand.

How well do you understand the Giver of understanding?  How much do you want to understand?