Spiral Staircase

I remember in college,
learning how to teach
math to children.
Someone said,
"Teaching math
is like walking up
a spiral staircase.
It may seem that you are
repeating yourself
again and again,
even to the students,
but with each lesson
you are actually working
at slightly higher level
than you were last time."

What a life lesson that was
and I didn't even see it then.

How many times
have I conquered something,
taken a deep breath,
prepared to enjoy
the hard-earned victory,
only to completely forget
the triumph
and fall apart
when I realize that
I'm still in the battle,
just at a slightly higher level
than I was before?

I've even asked Him
why I fight the same battles
over and over,
not noting the significance
of the details
and the differences
of each battle.  

Other times
I've wanted to see
around the curve
of the spiral staircase.
It is always better
to know what is coming, right?
Why won't He tell me?
But I think back
to that math class and wonder,
would a good teacher
who loves her students
and wants them to grow
at their own steady pace
look at the little girl
proud of herself
for learning her
multiplication tables
and hand her a book
of college level algebra?

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.

Proverbs 16:9

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
1 Corinthians 13:11