Learning... God's Way: A Devotional Thought

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:7 NIV

Working on a Judy Neimeyer Quilt reminded me of how I learn God's way.

This week I started a new quilt project... A Judy Neimeyer quilt. These quilts have always facinated me since I first saw them in quilt shops a while back. I finally got my chance to own a few Judy Neimeyer quilt patterns over the Thanksgiving sales and decided to start one this week. These quilts are all pieced using a foundation paper piecing technique that I am familiar with. I have a UFO on my shelf that uses this technique and have even designed (and made) a custom quilt with this technique used. The technique, I'm very comfortable with... but Judy has a special way of doing it that makes these quilts fast... and dare I say... easy.

Now... I could have just jumped in and started sewing... I know the technique... but this week I wanted to learn Judy's way. I had a desire to expand my current skill set and see if Judy, through her pattern, could teach me something new about a technique I already was familiar with.

Wow... did I learn a bunch! I don't think I will go back to doing foundation paper piecing my way ever! It took me a few times to read and understand the pattern... And a few deep breaths as I let go of what I already knew... to open my mind to a whole new way of doing something. Her way was much faster than my way and a lot less tedious. For someone very familiar with organization (I'm lean six sigma certified), I was impressed with the organization. I haven't even finished my first and I'm already opening the bag of the second.

This week was good reminder for me of how we should approach learning from God's word. We have a whole lot of human knowledge... Google and Facebook are full of it. But as the Proverbs states... It's not human knowledge that leads to wisdom. We must reset our mind on the Lord. I wouldn't have had any success at following Judy's pattern if I had stubbornly held to my own way of foundation paper piecing. I would have probably ended up very frustrated. When I set my mind on learning Judy's way... Thats when I gained knowledge. It's the same when we set our mind on Jesus.

One of my favorite ways to reset my mind on Jesus is through prayer. Before I begin writing a devotional or dive into Bible reading, I say a quick pray, "Help me understand." As simple as that. With those words I open my heart to what God has to say and God blesses me with wisdom to understand. This week, wherever life takes you, ask God to help you understand, and He will teach to you in surprising ways.