'I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.' Psalm 32:8 ESV
How comforting this promise is! The sovereign God; creator of the universe; maker of me and Savior of my soul; the One who holds it all together and works together good for those who love Him; the One who knows no beginning and no end; who orchestrates everything and knows all that will happen because nothing can happen outside of Him allowing it to happen, promises to instruct me in the way I should go and His eye is always on me!
What came to mind almost right away when I read this at first was the classic story of an expert taking a young and inexperienced person under his wings and training him: Mr Miyagi and Daniel-san, The Karate Kid (the original one...not that one with Jackie Chan). Mr. Miyagi was the older, wise expert, the master, and he took Daniel who was young, immature, and inexperienced and trained him to the point where he became a well trained fighting machine and capable of winning the karate tournament.
Mr. Miyagi's teachings were odd at first. Daniel didn't understand the purpose of washing Mr. Miyagi's car (wax on wax off), sanding the floor and painting his fence. When one watches this for the first time it almost seems that Daniel has become this crazy old man's slave. But then in an inspirational moment Mr. Miyagi shows Daniel-san that those jobs, though they seemed insignificant, odd, boring, laborious, actually were preparing him for fighting. Isn't that like God so often? How often do you think "God why are you letting me go through this? What could I possibly learn from this that would be important or help prepare me for the future?" But God, as seen in this verse, promises to teach us. The master promises to train us! And though His teachings may seem odd, or difficult, or unimportant, He knows what is ahead of us and knows how we need to be equipped.
"I will counsel you with my eye upon you." Think about the end of the movie. Daniel-san is in the final round of the championship. He's banged up, and now facing his arch rival after almost giving up, and who is behind him? Mr. Miyagi. The master is still there with his eye upon him.
Obviously there are differences. Real life isn't accompanied by an 80's inspirational soundtrack. There's not always happy endings. And there's one major way we are not like Daniel. Though he was young, inexperienced, and kind of a punk kid, he was the victim (His arch rival, and his rival's gang, beat him up and constantly hound and torment him). Though we like to think we are, in reality, we aren't the victim. In fact, Ephesians 2 goes so far as to call us God's enemy. We rebelled against the King of kings, and rightfully deserve the King's wrath. But God being rich in mercy poured His wrath into His perfect and spotless Son, and in so doing rescued us. And as we see here in the verse, He promises to take us under His wing, His protection, His shelter, His guidance, His ever watching eye, and trains and teaches us the way we should go. His teachings don't always make sense in the moment, but He is the Master and knows what we need preparing for.
God, let me take delight in the promise that you, the Great Teacher, the Ultimate Master, have taken me under your wing and guide and teach me. Help me to not quench Your Holy Spirit and forsake Your teaching and guiding. Grant me the eyes to see and mind to understand Your teaching, and the discipline, self control and perseverance to follow You and obey You.
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Side note - Yeah life isn't accompanied by an 80's inspirational soundtrack, but how cool would it be if it was!?
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