halfway point

At roughly 10:30 on Friday morning, I crossed the halfway point of my seminary education. Technically, I am slightly past halfway if I were to count the credit hours I have taken. However, since I still have two years remaining I will call this halfway.

...What was that?...You want to know some lessons I have learned?...I would be happy to fill you in.

• Studying God is the driest desert apart from intimate times with Him. It's tempting to think my studies are equivalent to time spent in Scripture and prayer. They are not! I need God like water and air. My studies cannot meet that need.
• Isolation from people is never a good idea. I spent much of my first year reading and studying. I spent little time with people, either at school or in the course of every day life. How I avoided a deeper and darker depression than what I experienced that first year is a testament to God's grace.
• It is okay not to be perfect. I really do want to read everything assigned. I really do want to crush every single assignment. I really do want to ace each and every one of my classes. Since I have not done that up to this point, I have learned to be content with doing my best and leaving the rest up to God.
• Education and ministry are best done together. Again, that first year I did nothing but study. Any ministry I did was minor (in regards to time, not significance). I sat in my "ivory tower" with nothing to do will all the knowledge I had gained. Ministry has allowed me to do something productive (at least I hope) with the training I am receiving. Without I might go crazy or become an arrogant jerk.
• Not every class is enjoyable. It is tempting to think that because God is the general topic of study every class with be awesome and edifying. The reality is I have had a handful of classes that were a struggle to attend and make my way through. I did endure, and, if anything, learned the value of perseverance.
• I am weak and frail, but God is not. In every semester, I reached at least one breaking point. It can be at the beginning when I look at everything in front of me or at the end when twenty-four hours does not seem like enough. And yet each breaking point proved that my weaknesses reveal God's strength. He does what I cannot do, and then allows me to enjoy the fruit.
• I am a sinner daily in need of God's grace. The more I learn, the more I realize how much is still wrong with me. The good news of God's salvation in Christ is not a one-time deal. It is the good news each and every morning I wake. I will never exhaust my need of God's grace. If anything I will only learn how I need it even more than I thought possible.
• God provides. In all honesty, this remains an ongoing lesson. Each and every semester I have witnessed how God has provided for my financial, spiritual, social, emotional, and physical needs. And yet, prior to each semester I wonder whether or not all those needs will be met. I wish I had more faith, but thankfully God remains faithful even when I am faithless.

I could probably list a lot more than those eight. However, those are the big ones which resonate with me most at this moment. It is suffice to say I have learned far more than what my professors have taught or books have presented.

And while I am eager to see what God has in store over the second half of my education, I am glad to embark upon a much-needed break.