Ways, Plans, and Methods

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass.

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your justice as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

Psalm 37:4-7a

In Jerry Benjamin’s booklet Simply Singular, he writes, “In the book of Judges, when God gave the strategy to defeat Israel’s enemies, at no time was it used more than once.  God never repeated tactic, because He did not want Israel looking to the method, but to the Master!”  Mr. Benjamin continues by reminding us that “We are not only familiar but also ‘at-home’ operating in the flesh – human effort, human strength, and human wisdom – because we can still be in control.  After perfecting the procedure, we no longer need the Person!”

These thoughts can apply to homeschooling.  As we begin planning for next year, it is easy to rest in our own efforts, our own strengths, and our own wisdom.  We rely on procedures and tactics that have worked in past years.  We depend on guidance from the success of others.  We trust in curriculum that promises favourable results.  It is not wrong to glean from past experiences or from other homeschoolers.  However, it is wrong to depend on these things rather than trusting in the Lord and His guidance.  It is too easy to become preoccupied with the methods of homeschooling and forget the Person who has led us to homeschool.

As Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us, we are not to lean on our own understanding, but rather we are to acknowledge Him in all our ways.  Then He shall direct our paths.  When we delight ourselves in Him, He leads the way and gives us the desires of our hearts.  When we commit our ways to Him and trust in Him, He will bring it to pass.  He will lead and guide in the way that He has planned.  Our ways and plans may be different from His, but His ways and plans will bring the success that best honours Him and His truth. 

As we plan for the next homeschooling year, we have before us two options.  We can worry and fret and seek out the best methods to bring about the most favourable results or we can rest in Him and wait patiently for Him.  As we abide in Him, He will faithfully lead us to the right resources and the right methods.  As we allow Him control, He will uphold us with His hand and He will give us and our children a future of peace.  As we trust in Him, He will give us strength and deliverance in times of trouble.  He will not fail to bless those who lean on Him.  Praise God for His constant faithfulness!

The Big Picture

A mother’s love lives on. . . .

She remembers . . . her child’s merry laugh,

The joyful shout of his childhood,

The opening promise of his youth.

-Washington Irving

I have been called ‘lucky’.  My children love the Lord.  They walk in His ways.  One has now graduated from university and been commissioned as an officer in the US Navy.  Another is in university.  The others have goals and dreams.  It may seem that I am lucky, but really I am blessed.  I am blessed by God for no other reason but that He loves to bless His children, just as I love to bless mine.  Psalm 36:7-9 reminds us, “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!  Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.  They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.  For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.”

Recently, as I sat in my son’s graduation and as I participated in his commissioning, I marvelled at all that God had done this far in his life.  He has blessed my son more than I can imagine.  The words of a mother just reaching the high school years came back to me, “I need to see the big picture.”  In looking back, I don’t think we can ever really see the ‘big picture’.  My plans for my son would have been much too small.  God had bigger plans.  I am so thankful that He took over.  And in many ways I am glad that I did not see the ‘big picture’ when I started homeschooling high school.  It would have been too frightening to think that I had to get my son where God took him.  It would then have been my effort and not God’s blessing.

As my son now moves on to the next step in his life journey, I am thankful that he is under the shadow of God’s wings.  I know that I can trust him completely with God.  And I am blessed not only with God’s blessings to my son, but also with the precious memories of his childhood and youth.  I remember his merry laughter and joyful shouts.  I remember the ‘opening promise of his youth’ when God placed him with a scholarship in just the right university.  Even looking back the ‘big picture’ still eludes me.  I only know enough of what God has done to praise Him for His lovingkindness and faithfulness.  I know that my son was where God wanted him to be, but I don’t know all the reasons. 

When I am tempted to worry about the future of my other children, I am reminded to trust them to Him.  When I am tempted to look for the ‘big picture’, I am reminded to trust Him with the details.  When I am tempted to be afraid because my efforts are too small, I am reminded that His blessings do not rely on my achievements.  His blessings do not come because I deserve them, but rather because He loves me.  And, as amazing as it seems, He loves my children more than I do.  It is a blessing not to require the ‘big picture’, but rather to trust my loving Lord with the details of the future.