Teaching Reading

When I first started homeschooling, my oldest was in kindergarten. I thought it would be a breeze. After all, it’s kindergarten. How hard can it be? Well, in two words. Very hard. I didn’t realize how crazy I would become trying to teach him to read. I was so discouraged with it. No matter how many things I tried, he just didn’t get it.

The only thing that kept me from switching curriculums a hundred times was the constant advice I heard from Sarah Mackenzie from Read-Aloud Revival. She kept saying, just let the process work. Give your kids a love for books, and the reading will come in time.

So, I did that. Fast forward a few years. Now Malachi is in fifth grade, and we can hardly keep him stocked with books. Now, I’m working with our third daughter who is learning to read and is still struggling. But I’m not worried, because I know that if I just let the process work, she will be fine. It may not be this year or next year, but at some point, everything will come together for her and she will be able to read fluently.

God’s Process to Develop Us

God is a God of systems and structure and order, so it shouldn’t surprise us that He has a process He takes each of us through. That process is found in Romans 5.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 4:3-5 KJV

The New Living Bible puts it this way…

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:3-5 TLB

Let’s look at the process in greater detail.

1. Tribulation

First, the problem or trial comes. It may be the loss of a job, a sickness, the loss of a loved one, financial stress, the betrayal of a friend. We all have problems and trials come into our lives. It shouldn’t surprise us. This is the first step of God’s plan to get us to a point where we are completely confident in Him. Certainly, enduring hardships helps us to develop patience.

2. Patience

Without the trial, we wouldn’t mature and grow; we wouldn’t develop the patience required to get to the next step. Learning to endure the trial, to not give up and quit, to not lose faith in the midst of life’s hardest moments develops grit in us and gives us experience.

3. Experience

Learning to endure helps us to grow in our experience. It’s been often said, “A faith not tested is a faith not trusted.” All of us want to be mature, experienced Christians. We want to help others endure their trials and give others encouragement, yet most of us don’t want to have to go through the process of gaining that experience. However, gaining that experience is what gives us hope.

4. Hope

Gaining hope means we’ve been tested, we developed patience and stuck it out, gained experience along the way, and that fills us with the hope that we can do that with the next trial God sends our way. Moreover, we can also be a light of hope to others still in this process. This hope that we have deep inside of us helps us to not be ashamed.

5. Not Ashamed

Once we’ve made it through this process, we can hold our head high in confidence in God’s absolute goodness and working in our lives. We revel in His love for us, that He has worked on our behalf. We begin to understand just how much He loves us. That confidence we take with us into the next problem or trial God sends into our life, and subsequently, the process starts all over once again.

Where are You at in the Process?

We have the “cheat sheet” to understanding how God works in our lives. Instead of just being in the dark, confused, and hurt by God’s allowing something to happen in our lives, we can see exactly where we are at in the process and see what it is God is trying to work in us right now.

Where are you at in the process right now? Has a huge problem come crashing into your life? Did something happen that you just didn’t see coming? Or are you just trying to endure right now? Are you in the developing patience part of the process? Have you entered the experience stage? Are you learning what God wants you to learn and growing in your faith? Have you reached the stage where hope begins to finally bloom? Do you finally see God at work and feel His love? Have you just come out of a trial and better understand God’s goodness and love towards you?

Wherever you are at in the process, take hope in the fact that it’s all part of God’s plan. Know there is an end in sight. Above all, don’t give up. Stick with the process. As a result, you will gain patience, experience, and hope. Subsequently, that hope will make you step confidently into what God has for you because you better understand His incredible love for you.

Lastly, for more encouragement on this topic, read Developing a Faith That’s Strong Enough to Stand On.