Jay and I taught nursing. We had many weeks in the classroom with our students. They listened to us lecture. They watched us do live demonstrations of how to perform skills.
Then they practiced the skills in the safety of the classroom. They practiced on us, on each other or on our very cooperative mannequins.
And then for the climax of the course, we took the students into the real world. We went to hospitals and nursing homes where they cared for real patients. Real patients were not as cooperative or predictable as mannequins.
Students quickly saw they had only been taught principles. They now had to show they could apply those principles to unpredictable situations.
No matter how well they did on the written portion of the class, if they could not pass clinical, they failed the course.
Jesus taught His Followers how to live Life. Not only did He lecture, He also told stories that illustrated what He was teaching. And He demonstrated through His Life exactly what we should do.
But after a time, Jesus sent His Disciples to their real life practice sessions.
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 9:1-2
Later when Jesus was preaching to a crowd, they became hungry. Jesus Disciples reported the problem to Jesus.
Jesus answer? He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
Luke 9:13
In His latter days on earth, Jesus began to physically distance Himself from His Disciples.
He seemed to be asleep in the boat when a major storm came. The disciples cried out to Him in fear. He calmed the waves, but not before talking to them about their lack of faith.
I am often like the disciples.
I love Jesus’ classroom teaching. I smile and sometimes laugh at His Stories. I love to watch Him work.
But then He turns to me and says, “Your turn. You go. You do what I have been doing.”
I try. Sometimes it feels so good to see the positive results. But then the unexpected happens. The storms come. I feel powerless. I feel afraid. I scream for Jesus to help me.
And He says, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Matthew 8:26
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
And so we continue in my learning in real life. The situations He is presenting seem to be getting more advanced, but He keeps telling me we can do this together. My Teacher never leaves me.
“Be sure of this. I am with you always.”
Matthew 28:20
