Teach Me However You Want

It takes a serious, humble, and obedient student to tell his teacher, “Teach me anything, at any time, in any way You choose.”

I love learning new things—but not everything. I’ll study bikes and burgers long before I dive into breakdancing or ballerinas. We all have our interests, and we like to stay in our “lanes of learning.” But every adult eventually realizes that life’s greatest lessons come from life’s greatest trials…not from cherry-picking our learning times and topics.

In the movie The Karate Kid, young Daniel was being harassed at school by a group of karate-trained bullies. He asked a quiet Japanese maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi, to teach him karate so he could defend himself. Miyagi reluctantly agreed—but only if Daniel promised to do exactly as he said, no questions asked.

The first assignment? Hand-washing and waxing multiple cars using a specific form. “Wax on, wax off,” Miyagi said. Daniel spent hours repeating the motion until his shoulders ached. He was confused and frustrated. What did waxing cars have to do with learning karate?

Day after day, Miyagi had Daniel scrub, sand, and paint—tasks that felt meaningless and exhausting. Finally, Daniel accused him of using him as cheap labor. That’s when Miyagi revealed the truth: the same motions Daniel had been practicing—washing, waxing, scrubbing—were the exact defensive moves he’d need in real combat. The painful repetition had been purposeful training all along.

Our spiritual life works the same way. God often teaches us through difficult seasons that don’t make sense at the time. Painful lessons only remain painful if we resist the Master. But when we submit to Him—trusting that however He chooses to teach will be beneficial—we discover that no hardship is wasted.

Are you willing to let God teach you however He wants? His lessons may stretch you, weary you, and pull you far outside your comfort zone. But in the end, you’ll see every struggle had purpose. The Master never wastes a trial, and every surrendered student graduates stronger in faith.