Incline of Life

          At the base of the mountain sat an incline tram with bucket seats to carry miners up to the coal mines and small cars with benches for other passengers. The stable owner told me the incline was dangerous and very few people risked taking it, especially women.¹ 

            This photograph of that very tram, the Whitwell Mine Incline in Marion County, Tennessee,  was taken on October 1, 1886 - one hundred twenty-six years ago! If you study the picture carefully, you will see a gentleman on the left beside the signal house, four men on the tracks, and another coal miner standing in the distance on the hill to the right – six men who lived life on this ol’ earth and then stepped into eternity.

            Did they know Jesus Christ? Did they fulfill God’s purposes in their own generation? Did they hear from the Master, “Well done, good and faithful servant or depart from Me, I never knew you?”

            It's now our time to ride the incline of life for "He made from one man every nation of mankind, to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation" (Acts 17:26 NASB).

            “So be careful how you act…Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to” (Ephesians 5:15-17 TLB).

¹   Jill Watson Glassco. The Schoolhouse (Peoria, AR: LifeHouse Publishing, 2012), 8.

 (The Schoolhouse is available online at Amazon.com)

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God's Schoolhouse

     

          I often ask my friends,
 “What’s 
          God
              teaching 
                       you
              these 
     days?” 
          Every triumph we experience, as well as, every heartache, can be a schoolhouse – a place to learn, change, and grow.

            “Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:20-21 NASB).

            In delays, God offers a lesson on waiting on Him. In disappointments, God offers a lesson in trusting Him. In achievement, God offers a lesson in humility. In pain, God offers a lesson on eternal perspectives.

            What's your schoolhouse today? Don’t be late for class, and pay close attention to your Teacher!

            “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

            I am certain that I learned more lessons during these months than my students. My eyes beheld my Teacher and my ears heard His voice behind me say, “This is the way, walk in it.” God taught me that He truly is sufficient for all circumstances and trained me to face my fears with courage and fortitude.¹

¹ Jill Watson Glassco. The Schoolhouse (Peoria, AR: LifeHouse Publishing, 2012), 43.

(The Schoolhouse is available online at Amazon.com)

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