Canvas & Clay

Author - César Muñoz

"You make all things work together for Your glory and for Your name."

Hello friends! I am happy to be in February. Although January flew by, I am excited to be finished with it and looking forward to the new month ahead!

Throughout the stories of the Bible, we can see this idea of teaching that is then followed by testing. And often, when it comes to the testing part of this cycle, we see the rise or fall of Biblical characters and even the Israelites. Sometimes, they rise up to the occasion, and other times, they fall short like we often do. So, that is the prompt for this week's blog post.

How have I seen God use the Teach/Test principle in my life, and what did I have to do differently or change because of it?

I am an older brother to six younger siblings, whom I greatly love and cherish. I have four younger brothers and two younger sisters. Being the oldest, you can imagine I learned most things first—reading, writing, riding a bike, and other things. My parents taught me everything I know. Initially, I didn't realize that as the oldest, when my first sibling Caleb came along, it would be my job to help teach him everything I had learned up to that point.

When Caleb was old enough to start playing, I remember trying to make him play with my cars or transformers and being upset because he did not know how to "play gently" and broke one of my favorite toys. I remember being a very angry four-year-old that day and having no patience for a two-year-old Caleb. Fast forward another year, and Caleb and I find ourselves with our baby sister, Marisa; this was a whole new ball game for us. Where do we start? We weren't sure if our sister would like monster trucks or the WWE like we did and had no clue why our parents said she was not allowed to "rough house" with us. When Caleb and I were just starting to learn how to navigate, having a sister, Mom and Dad brought our sister Mkayla home. And this one was completely different from Marisa! Caleb and I had to start back at square one. One liked purple, and the other liked pink. One liked all the same snacks as us, and the other was allergic to half of them. And although they were similar, there were so many things they did differently. Then our brother Malachi comes along, and he's different than all four of us! And the same thing was true for Titus and Boaz.

I didn't know it at the time with each of my siblings, but God was teaching me so many unique skills and strengthening me as a person. Or "teaching" me through each of them! I think most people would describe me as an extroverted individual. I believe that is because I grew up with so many people around all the time; it's what feels comfortable and familiar to me, and now I can't remember a time when I did not have six siblings.

Because God taught me to love and teach my siblings, He tested that knowledge by putting me in positions to love and teach other people. For several years, I was a Sunday school teacher's assistant, and it was such a blessing. In that classroom, not only was God testing me, but he was teaching me through the kids in this class and the teachers around me. I went on to help out high school/middle school students, and after that, I began serving at a camp for the summers. Each of these ministry opportunities has used this teach-to-test cycle.

Even now, in The Fellowship, I am being tested while being taught, and I know wherever God takes me after this year, I will have times where God tests what He has taught me this year, but He will continue to teach me so much more. I will continue to grow and change things about myself as this teach-to-test principle continues, and truly, I don't think it will ever stop.

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I pray it was a blessing and brought you some joy as I shared how I have seen this Teach to Test principle in my life. The song for this weeks blog is "Canvas and Clay" by Pat Barrett.

Blessings.