Practice Makes Perfect
In the movie Karate Kid, young Daniel asks Mister Miyagi to teach him karate. Miyagi agrees, with one condition: Daniel must submit totally to his instruction and never question his methods.
Daniel shows up the next day eager to learn karate. To his chagrin, Mister Miyagi has him paint a fence. Miyagi demonstrates the precise motion for the job: up and down, up and down. It takes Daniel days to finish.
Next, Miyagi has him scrub the deck using a prescribed stroke. Again the job seems to take forever. Daniel wonders, ‘What does this have to do with karate?’ but he says nothing. Then, Miyagi tells Daniel to wash and wax three weather–beaten old cars and again demonstrates the motion — “Wax on, wax off.” Finally, Daniel has reached his limit. “I thought you were going to teach me karate, but all you have done is make me do your unwanted chores!”
Daniel has broken Miyagi’s one condition, and the old man’s face turns red with anger. “I have been teaching you karate. Defend yourself!”
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Miyagi thrusts his arm at Daniel, who instinctively defends himself with an arm motion exactly like that used in one of his chores. Miyagi unleashes a vicious kick, and again Daniel averts the blow with a motion learned and practiced countless times in his hated chores. After Daniel successfully defends himself several more times, Miyagi simply walks away, leaving Daniel to ponder what the master had known all along: skill comes from repeating the correct but seemingly mundane actions, over–and–over, to perfection.
God knows the best way for everything (even better than Mr. Miyagi). Humankind, on the other hand, has a better idea. “But Lord,” we say, “my way is better.” Only those who surrender to God and follow Him closely will enjoy God’s success. God told Abraham, “Sacrifice your son,” and the old guy obeyed, not understanding what God had in mind. His great–great–grandson Joseph maintained his faith in Egypt, even when life repeatedly fell apart. Then, when his evil brothers dragged themselves to Joseph, after their father died, they said, “We are your slaves.” But Joseph’s reply came straight out of his faithfulness. “You intended [your wicked treatment of me] for evil, but God intended it for good, the saving of many lives,” (Genesis 50:20).
The same is true of goodness that Daniel found in karate: If we will learn from the Master, and practice faithfully, we too can learn to live a life dominated by faithfulness, no matter what the circumstances!
Learning bad habits seems to be so much easier than learning good habits. Like weeds, bad behavior seems to sprout, hale and hearty, overnight, all by itself. But good behavior — it grows as precariously as delicate orchids. Only with care — and repetitive practice — will we learn to bless others with the goodness of God.
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