Joyful Ruins

I started watching Cobra Kai the other day, the Karate Kid revival show. It has its own flavor that I would not necessarily recommend, but it does bring back all my warm feelings about the original film.

I remember watching The Karate Kid with my mom one evening. We got to the wax on/ wax off scene, where Mr. Miyagi makes Daniel do a number of chores around his house. Each task had to be done in a specific way: sanding the deck in circles, painting the fence side to side. Eventually, Daniel gets frustrated over these seemingly useless tasks. Wasn’t he supposed to be learning karate?

Then, in a classic scene, Mr. Miyagi reveals the lessons he had been teaching Daniel. He tells Daniel to wax on/ wax off, paint the fence, sand the floor, and simultaneously attacks him with karate. Daniel blocks every hit and realizes what Mr. Miyagi had been doing all along.

My mom, wise sage that she is, pointed out to me how like our relationship with God that is.

Like Mr. Miyagi, God may have us in places, seasons, doing certain jobs that seem useless. Yet, God is teaching us more than we can ever know. He is our Mr. Miyagi (but way better!). He knows the perfect training and He knows when to show us how to use it.

Just as King David, in the Bible, was hidden away as a shepherd boy and may have wondered what God was up to, we may also wonder what God is up to in our own lives. But, David grew close to God and fought off wild animals while shepherding. Because of that hidden season, David was the only man who could defeat Goliath.

Let us not underestimate the seemingly mundane or long hidden seasons of our lives. They may just be the perfect training ground for our future wax on/ wax off moment.