Wash. Rinse. Repeat

There’s a summertime memory that will forever be in my mind.  It is the day we washed the car seven times!  That’s right.  We washed that 1977 light blue Cadillac seven times in a row!  It wasn’t that we were bored – in fact we had a number of activities we would much rather be a part of like baseball, tree-climbing, and exploring the great outdoors.  But that day my father was trying to teach us the fine art of scrubbing bugs off the chrome grille and rinsing suds from the top down, not the bottom up.

Car washing is both an art and a science.  Not only must the car look good but you must follow the proper techniques as you scour the grit and grim off the metal.  Books can be written on the subject.  “How-To” videos could be sold for just $19.95.

I was recently reminded of all this as I stood in the driveway with my children trying to help them learn the basics of getting our vehicle clean.  Only this time I was the teacher, not the student.  It seemed like a rite of passage for me.  What it really turned into was a time the Lord spoke to my heart.  As I held the hose reminiscing about the aforementioned “good-old days”, I started to think about how often my heavenly Father has to teach me the same lessons over and over again.  It’s not that the Lord wants to punish me with his repeated instruction.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  His goal is to equip me for life.

Have you ever wondered why God seems to be teaching you the same lessons over and over again?  It could well be that you have yet to truly apply what He’s teaching.  Perhaps you need a good review because you’ve forgotten what you learned.  Or it may be that the Lord wants you to one day help others who will be walking down the same path you’re on right now.  The Lord says, “… whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil” (Proverbs 1:33).  It is God’s part to instruct and teach.  It is ours to trust and obey.

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