It's good to think more deeply about the mercies of God in times of crisis. To help guide us in this effort, we'll consider Paul David Tripp's collection of meditations from Psalm 27 called "A Shelter in the Time of Storm." You can get your own copy on Amazon here.

Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.

Psalm 27:11

As we meditate on this verse, we should consider whether or not we have a "humble, open, and seeking heart." How often, in our prayers, do we ask what David does here, that God would teach us his way, even through hardship?

In Tripp's experience, most Christians start with the student mentality, but something happens along the way and we instead start going through life as "tourists [rather] than students." To help persuade us to think like students again, he gives us two reasons why we should.

1. The wisdom of God has no boundary. We will never exhaust it. We have not "arrived" in our understanding of God's will and word and so we should always keep going. 
2. We live in a world of danger, where "the sounds of falsehood echo more loudly and repeatedly than the sounds of wisdom."

Think about how many important questions the voices of this world are answering with lies rather than truth:

• Who am I?
• What is life about?
• How should I spend my time?
• How should I use my resources?
• How do I conduct my relationships?
• What should my goals be?
• What does the good life look like?

As Tripp concludes, "It's so easy to be taken captive...to breathe in the polluted air of a culture that no longer actually things that God is, let alone that he is wise." Instead, let's be those who pray, as David did, "Teach me your way, O Lord," even through difficult circumstances. 

Questions to Consider

The questions are Tripp's. I included my answers in case they're helpful to read.

1. If you were to live as a student, what changes would you need to make in the way that you approach your daily life?

- I'd need to have a plan. Students have intentional curriculum and goals. What am I going to study this month, and this year? What am I going to learn? What am I going to memorize?

- I'd need to have accountability. Students have their homework checked, their quizzes and tests graded, and they pass or fail based on achievement of learning goals. 

2. What, in your knowledge of God's truth, do you need to investigate further and understand more fully?

- I need to know more about who God is (his attributes). I too quickly run to "what God has done" without stopping to think about who he is in and of himself.

- I need to consider more carefully what God expects from me. What is his standard? I know I often replace his standards with my own, but I am certainly blind to some of the areas of life where I'm doing that.