Learning Lessons the Hard Way (by Walt Henrichsen)

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

God wants His people to learn most of the important lessons of life vicariously. For this reason He narrates for us what happens to people when they insist on learning these lessons through personal experience. For example, He says, “And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD, that He had wrought for Israel…and there arose another generation after them, that knew not the LORD, nor yet the work which He had wrought for Israel…And the children of Israel… forsook the LORD.”1

Too often, Israel insisted upon learning lessons the hard way. The Apostle Paul, after relating some of the many sins of Israel, wants his readers to know that Israel’s history with God clearly teaches that no one profits from sinning. “Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did.”2 

Too often God’s people today fail to learn from observing the lives of others. The youngest child, with a number of siblings, can avoid a great deal of hurt by observing the experiences of his brothers and sisters. The price of learning these lessons through personal experience is simply too high.