LESSONS FROM THE PAST

There are so many mistakes we make in the past but I believe they are not mistakes but lessons. We learn from them. We spend most of our young years in school and we tend to learn a lot of these lessons in school. We learn through the friendships we make and the heartbreaks we go through. When growing up all I heard was go to school and study hard and become someone great in future, but what I wasn’t told was the difficulties associated with it. The road is not as clear cut as they make it sound. There are so many roadblocks and bumps on the way, some diversions and a few potholes. The journey through school is a never ending learning experience. Some of the roadblocks I faced was the cost of losing some friends and holding back on some people who wanted to be friends for the sake of the goal I wanted to achieve. One diversion I experienced was in the form of a friendship. This friendship nearly cost me everything I had worked so hard for. I began skipping school and visiting places with this girl. I was going wayward. Thank God for the life of one teacher who pulled me out at the right time for me to get back on track with school. I had to cut all ties with my friend. It was such a painful experience but it had to be done. Another thing was also the temptation to get into a relationship with the opposite sex but I gave in to that temptation in SHS 3. I just wanted to have a boyfriend like everybody else but there was nothing to it. Looking at the kind of person I am now there is no way I would date that gentleman if he was to come around. All I am trying to say is dating in high school is just not worth it because you are still trying to find yourself as a person. You do not know yourself really well at that point to know the kind of guy want to date. I guess that was what my mum was trying to tell me but she wrapped it up in scary terms but that didn’t stop me from entering into one. The church experience was one other diversion I experienced. I am writing this because it’s really important and goes to the ‘crife’ students. Never ever use God or the church as an excuse not to learn. As much as you are investing your time in the Lord’s house, do same for your books. I did that at a certain period in my life and it really affected my academic work. My grades were very terrible. I felt that once I am involved in the Lord’s work, I will get automatic A’s because in Romans 8:28 it reads “And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose”. I felt since I was evangelizing, going for outreaches and crusades I was loving the Lord and so things were supposed to work for my good by getting As without putting in the effort. But I came across this scripture one day Proverbs 11:1, the Word says “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight”. It was an eye opener. I realized I had been going about everything wrongly. I realized I had been disgracing the Lord because I work hard in His Vineyard and yet my grades are terrible. I did a complete turn around and spent equal time with my books and God. I then noticed a big change in my grades. I then realized as much as the Lord wants me to work for Him, He also wants me to do exceedingly well in school.

In a nutshell our past is a wealth of wisdom which we can use to help ourselves to become better people. There’s a lot to learn from our past.