Instruction

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” Psalm 32:8-9
In life, we never stop learning. And it is especially true when it comes to God’s instruction. There is always another rough edge that He wants to smooth, another godly character trait that He wants to develop in us, more of the fruit of the Spirit that He can grow in us, more ways that we can be conformed into the image of Christ.
There are also several ways that God can instruct us in these things. In these verses, we see two of them. We can be guided by His counsel, through reading the Word and drinking it in, and applying it to our lives with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is the way that God would prefer we learn things. On the other hand, if we are stubborn and refuse to listen to His counsel, He sometimes leads us by the bit and bridle, as it were. These are devices put in the mouths of animals to turn the head through applying pain, and once the head is turned, the animal is turned. God doesn’t like seeing us in pain, but He will apply it if necessary, to achieve a greater good in our lives.
The choice is ours then – whether to seek Him, and to try to live by the Word, or to be led through trials and pain. Either way, we learn; but one is more desirable than the other.