Tip o' Faith's Hat to Teachers (aka troubles/trials)

My dad, recovering from surgery is well enoughto be transferred to a local hospital today! PtL! Today's poem is a reflection on 'good teachers' we don't always recognize,(in their under-appreciated disguises) and also inspired by a sentence in today's devotionthat really hit home in light of lessons our family is (hopefully) learning about the wonderful, sufficient grace of God!We feel like we have been shown grace over grace!Thank-you for your part in this gracethrough your prayers, flowers, messages etc! John 1:16From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. We should not, though they vex and test intentions, plans and preferenceExpel the ‘teachers’ God deems best, to authorize epiphaniesThrough lessons we would never choose to suffer through experienceThat introduce us to the views of Dry-ground Paths through Parted Seas We should not, but we oft fall prey to logic’s finite theoryBecause God’s Higher Thoughts and Ways appoint purpose none can preemptWhere severe ‘teachers’ God assigns to educate humanity/humilitySeem ruthless as they prune the vines that else would grow wild and unkempt We should not but we often fail to trust the ‘teachers’ God ordainsTo show us, through trouble’s travail, a love by mercy justifiedOf soul restored through comfort of the rod and staff His grace constrainsAs He administers His love to counter fear and rebuke pride We should not but oft fix our gaze on prizes we behold with eyesForgetful of how sight betrays confidence placed in what we seeGod’s ‘teachers’ may seem harsh and rude; His goodness hard to recognizeWhile perfecting faith’s greater good, through thorough tests of misery We should not cross bridges before we reach the chasm that they spanNor reject lessons that restore the soul that else is prone to strayNor expel ‘teachers’ He anoints to save us from the ways of manThough the drill stings and disappoints, behold the cross, trust and obey Because each cross that God allows is always anchored in His graceEach lesson the ‘teacher’ bestows is to prove love’s fidelityWith humbler gratitude, lest we become forgetful of our placeUnworthy beneficiary of the triumph of Calvary Thus, we should not despair when we suffer and face trouble’s increaseBut with thankful humility, recognize God’s redeeming loveThen trust the ‘teachers’ He deploys to draw us to His fount of peaceTo cheer us with unrivaled joys that this old world knows nothing of Janet Martin