“Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalm 25:5 (NLT)
What are your memories of kindergarten?
Today, kids are expected to start reading, writing and 'rithmatic in their first year of school, but when I was a kid, there was a philosophy centered on play. Educators believed simple activities built an important foundation for children. I have clear mental pictures of swinging at recess, drinks, and cookies at snack time and carrying baby dolls around the housekeeping center.
Teachers filled our 5-year-old minds with basics to develop fine motor skills, like coloring inside the lines or cutting paper hearts. Wee people circulated through centers, "cooking" plastic foods and putting together puzzles. It looked like pure fun, but all the activities were designed to ready our minds for learning in the upper grades.
Kindergarten is a wonderful place ... unless you get sent back there from college.
In the last five years or so, I've been hearing God whisper, "Go back, Amy. Relearn the things you think you know." God gently but firmly has sent me back to spiritual kindergarten.
I've returned to simple truths like …
God loves me.
Life is best when I trust Him.
Belief is the bedrock for everything else.
These elementary thoughts are where I've been schooled by God, and it's been good. But honestly, it's been hard, too. It's difficult for a woman who’s loved Jesus for 40 years to admit she doesn’t really grasp Jesus' love. It's humbling for a Bible teacher to go from meat back to milk.
Yet it's the path God's had for me, and there are three things I've learned that I hope will help you embrace the basics, too:
- Simple truths aren't insignificant truths.
The simple beliefs of our faith are usually the foundational ones. That’s why knowing "Jesus Loves Me" is a core reality of our faith.
Just like with houses, sometimes our foundations need shoring up after the wear and tear caused by years of life. Every now and then, sinking foundations need to be straightened from the weight of what gets piled on top. Our spiritual selves are the same. We return to basic truths to strengthen our underpinnings against the weight of disappointments and failures. Restoring our first love leaves us "plumb" and refreshed.
- It takes humility to go back when we want to forge forward.
I could have ignored God's provision, His beckoning back to His simple truths. I could have proudly proclaimed that I was too smart and mature to be “demoted,” but then where would I be today? I believe I would have missed out on God’s plan for me, creating spiritual anemia. Instead, I’m experiencing a soul that’s more well-fed than when I started on this journey.
- When we return to the basics of faith, we aren't dumbing down; we're “leveling up.”
My friend Cheri Gregory painted a word picture that’s stuck with me and comforted me. In the video game world, upward levels may appear the same while becoming more difficult. Conquering increasingly challenging levels, no matter how similar they may look, is called "leveling up."
The journey through simple truths is the same. For example, each time I revisit the basic thought, "God loves me," I learn more about His love. And I believe it more deeply. What looks like regression to others — and may even feel like it to me — is actually progress.
Going back to “God’s kindergarten” has been challenging for me in some ways, but I’ve learned to say, “Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you” (Psalm 25:5). God is our faithful teacher, whether He’s teaching deep mysteries or the basics that sustain us. Relearning His simple truths has brought deeper love, greater trust, and bolder belief into my life.
Lord, when You call me back to simple truths, I won’t resist. I know You’re taking me on a journey to know You better and love You more. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 55:8, “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the LORD. ‘And my waysare far beyond anything you could imagine.’” (NLT)
REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Would you surrender or resist if God called you back to kindergarten?
Which of God’s basic lessons is dearest to your heart? What might you gain if you revisited and relearned the basic belief that you list as your dearest?
Replies
No I will not resist because he has already took me back now. I am in Kindergarten spiritually because God is redirecting me to a new way of everything. All because It allowing me to be sensitive to the spirit and it's allowing me to hear more of God since I am a prophetess he talks to us daily. I will gain wisdom and knowledge of learning about love, life, and power within us.
I would surrender because God knows me more than i know me and if feels I need to of course I will disagree at first and probably cry but i will do it. Because he knows best. Thats my Father. 2 and 3 speak to me. Sometimes you have to go back to that place where havin basic faith is a reminder for you to rememeber where it all started from. I know thinking about my first time with trusting God having faith. I get inspired all over again. I also know i like to get things done or moving and to go back is where the pride sometimes kick inn. But if its nessarry I swallow it and go back. So i know the feeling of plunging forward. I would relearn alot by going back. I would learn to believe totally with out waver again. I would love God in a new in exciting way. Its suppose to be exciting to be in love. And i would found that closeness with God. I wouldove myself even that much more. I would learn to fully trust. Ne'eman
Would you surrender or resist if God called you back to kindergarten?
Knowing it is God, what I know Now, I would obey, because I am of surety that it is for a reason, and for God to get all the glory.
Which of God’s basic lessons is dearest to your heart?
When we return to the basics of faith, we aren't dumbing down; we're “leveling up.”
What might you gain if you revisited and relearned the basic belief that you list as your dearest?
Knowing that Faith is a gift and it’s a basic lesson of mine, we will learn a lot more than the beginning. Because we understand it better, that we can’t please God without it. So, by revisiting and relearning it more, can only strengthen us in the process of learning more.
If God told me to go back to spiritual kindergarten I would. I do not have any issues with that. Leaders would have the issues if their leaders told them they needed to go back to spiritual kindergarten to learn what they missed or to reinforce what they thought they learned! My God, thank you for taking me back to spiritual kindergarten! Thank you for teaching me things I previously did not know. Thank you for reinforcing things I thought I knew in you The Lord of Hosts!!!
Simple truths are not insignificant truths is what is dearest to me!. I would relearn that It’s okay to revisit this and get straightened back out after being weighed down with life.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 55:8, “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the LORD. ‘And my waysare far beyond anything you could imagine.’” (NLT)
REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Would you surrender or resist if God called you back to kindergarten?
I really don't believe, I would resist God at all. I desire to be a life long student. I will never get enough, My spirit and soul is always thristy for more of God's living word and living water... Where God wants me to be in or takes me, I willing.
Which of God’s basic lessons is dearest to your heart? What might you gain if you revisited and relearned the basic belief that you list as your dearest?
I will always say, intimacy with God" building a personal relationship with God. What truly pleases the Lord and being led by His Spirit at all times.