“Although you had enough time to become teachers, you again need someone to teach you the basic principles of God's teaching, and you have come to need milk, not solid food.” (Hebrews, chap. 5, v. 12*)
The people of Israel know very well the concept of “repetition.” In fact, the entire ancient history of the Jews is a string of repetitions of sin and discipline from God. What is Israel missing? What does the apostle Paul speak about in his letter to the newly-believing Jews in Christ? What are we missing that we have to go through the same problematic situations again and again?
Repetition in every scientific, sports, academic discipline builds reflex. From a young age, we learn to repeat sounds, words, movements, shown to us by adults. If we do well, we receive enthusiastic approval even in cases where our actions might seem simple and elementary. What are parents actually encouraging in young children when they happily clap for every repeated syllable or movement? This encourages the child's desire to learn new useful things.
New knowledge is built through the reflex of repetition because the young child often does not fully comprehend what they are doing. They simply acquire the ability to do it based on imitation. As they grow and develop mentally, they learn more based on understanding and explanation.
Similarly, in spiritual disciplines – the more we repeat something, the better we master it. However, in most cases, repetition is a sign that we have not managed to acquire the skill from the first time, from the first encounter with the specific problem.
Have you noticed a repeating pattern in your own life? Do you see something repeating over and over without being able to explain why you have to go through the same hardship? It might be a very conscious repetition – you know you have a problem and realize that if you are placed in the same situation, you would fail again. Then God allows a similar situation, and you react in the same unsuccessful manner. What is God aiming with this?
God, like any good teacher or parent, first shows us the problem. With sometimes obtrusively repeating situations, He draws our attention to a specific trait of our character, a specific reaction, an unconscious fear, or a false belief that are within us but shouldn't be. With the intention to make us focus on the need to grow and learn, the Lord will allow this specific problem to manifest in our life in one form or another. With these repetitions, we will have many opportunities to build the right reflex of thinking and behaving just like young children. Where do we see this in the Bible? As mentioned earlier, we see it in the entire ancient history of Israel.
The Jews humble themselves before God, follow His commandments, He opens doors for them, leads them in battles, they conquer new lands and subjugate foreign nations. However, once they receive the blessings, they become complacent, lose focus, fall into temptations and sin, into idolatry and mingling with the very foreign tribes they have conquered. Then comes downfall and punishment, the people of Israel suffer defeats, lose lands, fall into captivity, famine, or are struck by plague. Then again they remember Yahweh and return to Him like a disobedient child who got dirty in the mud. They repent, humble themselves, He accepts them and affirms them, pouring blessings upon them again, which leads to the same cycle of pride, compromises, and downfall. What do they fail to learn? What do we fail to learn, causing us to go through the same lessons and return to square one?
First, to identify the problem that manifests every time, for which the Lord allows us to go through the same situations.
Second, to see if there are wrong beliefs or emotional barriers in our hearts that hinder learning.
Third, to see how we can react differently the next time we find ourselves in the same situation.
Fourth and most important, to observe how our Heavenly Father does it. In prayer, let us strive to imitate Christ.
And do not forget, the experience in your life as a child of God is not a trauma, but a value: “Solid food is for mature people, who through experience have senses to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews, chap. 5, v. 14*, the bold is ours)
*Biblical quotes are according to the text of the Bible, new translation from original languages © Bulgarian Bible Society 2013.
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