Understanding by Doing

There was great excitement and some disruption, as a new dishwasher arrived at Ellel Glyndley Manor. The young people’s team, and other team members who were able to, had been washing dishes by hand, as the old one had been broken for a while. (This had meant washing more than a hundred dishes as well as saucepans at times!) Praise God for the anonymous donation of a brand new machine. The House manager had to train the team how to use the new dishwasher, and there was much consulting of the manual, and trying to remember the instructions given by the person who installed it. As important as it is to read the instruction manual, and talk to the installer, the machine still didn’t do the washing up until it was actually turned on and used. In fact there was no real understanding of how it worked and what problems could arise until it was put into action.

I thought of this as I read the verses in Philemon. It’s important to hear all about faith, and how Jesus works in other people’s lives. It’s really good to study the Bible, and pray to our Heavenly Father. But, unless there are some actions (partnership in faith), there will be limited understanding. Better understanding comes when we start using what we’ve learnt to do the stuff!

I’ve found that the more I do what God asks of me, the more I understand His ways, His plans and the depth of his Glory. The more we take part in what’s asked of us, the more there is ‘deepening’ of our ‘understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ’.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the depth and riches of all the good things that You have for us to know. I ask that my understanding would be deepened as I walk in Your ways, that my faith would grow as I do what You’ve asked me to do, and that my relationship with You would become closer. Amen.