Uh? Argh! Oh!

I have been teaching for a long time and yet each year, when I start a new course with a new group of students, I am always shocked.

I am shocked at their lack of knowledge. I am shocked at my frustration when they fail to understand a simple concept. And I am shocked at the indescribable joy of watching a student grasp an idea – and be transformed by it.

Of course, I shouldn’t be shocked because this is the process of teaching exemplified throughout the Bible.

Take Jeremiah, for instance. God calls him to be a prophet, but Jeremiah doesn’t get it. He makes excuses and so God becomes frustrated. Finally, God reaches out and touches him, and Jeremiah sees what God wants him to see – he gets it.

The first chapter of Jeremiah could be summarized: Uh? (verses 4-6); Argh! (verses 7-8); Oh! (verses 9-13).

This process is repeated over and over again throughout the life of a teacher. It’s also the never-ending cycle in the life of a learner.

Why don’t you look for, and record, this process in your own life; or in the lives of those you are teaching; or in the life of another Bible character, like Moses

Robert