Living, Loving, Learning by His Grace

Ecclesiastes 3:1-10 (King James Version)

Ecclesiastes 3

¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The following are my own words added(as I’m sure you know:-):

A time for dc1 to learn multiplication tables, a time for dc2 to learn to clean room consistently, a time for dc3 to learn alphabet and phonogram sounds, a time for dc2 to learn to read fluently, a time for gymnastics lessons, a time for art lessons, a time to clean the house, a time to refrain from cleaning, a time for math lessons, a time for music lessons…….I think you get the picture.

Also,

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time

and

Psalm 31:15

My times are in thy hand

God’s Principle of Times and Seasons.

This has been an eye opener for me and something that added to my freedom.  If I am to set my heart on things above and on what is valuable in heaven

then I must begin to operate in God’s Principle of Times and Seasons.  This principle tells me that no one can dictate to me when my children need or have to know a certain thing or concept.  The timing for when my children were born was in God’s hands.  The timing and season for when they learned to walk, sit up, ride a bike, crawl, read, learn how to add, subtract, etc. were in God’s hands.  The timing and season for when they will learn all these other concepts are in God’s hands.

When I realized this I began to see that my children’s education is not all my responsibility.  I could stop planning/choosing/shopping for curriculum each year with the idea that I had to get them read, I had to get them to proficiency in this workbook so I could say they were in the 2nd grade or 4th grade or whatever.  Now, I plan with the idea of what do each of my children need in their own personal timetable of growth.

They are where they are, and where they are is fine.  God has already appointed times and seasons for their growth and development and I had to realize this and give the reigns/control back to God.  I had worn myself out trying to steer this ship; trying to do something that I was never designed to do, nor did God intend for me to do.  I was never to take the whole brunt of this  “educating and raising children” thing on myself.  Long and short of it, I had not been trusting the Lord with my children- TOTALLY.

So I had to learn to do that.  I’m still learning to do that.  I know I’m making progress because life is much lighter now, much freer and I have another perspective on this now; a HIGHER perspective…God’s perspective.  Instead of fretting over not having covered all the concepts in a typical (is there a typical 4th grade scope and sequence?)  4th grade  and that we are so behind(behind WHAT, behind WHO, behind GOD…can we ever be behind God???) I am learning to just remember that God has already determined our times and seasons and WHEN it’s time for them to know or learn a concept, THEY WILL LEARN IT…at some point they will learn it in their own time on their own timetable that God has so lovingly designed.

God’s Wisdom is higher than this earthly wisdom and will yield greater results;

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.(James 3:17)

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⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

¹¹So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.(Isaiah 55:8-11)

and His ways are not burdensome or grievous.  He has a more excellent way for us to walk in, in ALL areas of our lives.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-Message Bible)

As I look back over the “silent time” on this blog and remember some of the things the Lord showed me in that time, I see that He was freeing me and showing me “what the will of the Lord” is .  I  see that my freedom came in layers.  That is the image I get when I think back over this time.  My post on Matthew 6:19-34 is one such layer.

The first bit of enlighentment came after my desperate cries for help were answered with this verse:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-Message Bible)

I began to realize that I was going to have to learn a new way and gain a new mindset concerning homeschooling and to really press into and find the biblical principles that I needed to walk in concerning homeschooling.  I knew I was missing something and I was so willing at this point to stop all I was doing and reading and let the Lord tell me.

I believe God led me to the writings of Marilyn Howshall/Barb Shelton.   The ministry of these ladies STRESSES, ENCOURAGES, DIRECTS you to FOLLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT in your homeschooling; TO FIND OUT WHAT GOD SAYS TO DO IN YOUR OWN FAMILY; TO KNOW THAT GOD HAS A SPECIFIC PLAN FOR YOUR FAMILY AND A LIFESTYLE FOR YOU TO WALK AND LIVE IN; THAT THE PARTICULAR LIFE GOD HAS GIVEN YOU IS YOUR CURRICULUM(and your schedule/plan/routine).  I took from this smorgasbord and began to just love my children and just let them live and just be…they wanted to be with me, with mommy…and I just wanted to love them…and that is what I did while I searched out God’s will for us in prayer and reading His word.  I began to enjoy my children again. Much of what Marilyn and Barb share has helped to free me and to be able to have the COURAGE to walk in that freedom.

I emphasize Courage b/c, as I’m finding in my Christian walk with the Lord, many times the Ways of the Lord are in direct contrast to culture and to the ways of this world.  The ways of this world are the ways that WE have been educated and groomed and taught and discipled to walk in concerning the area of education.  It takes tremendous Courage to obey God and follow Him.  It takes Courage to KEEP obeying God and following after Him.  It takes Courage to persevere.  It takes Courage NOT to look at the circumstances that draw you to follow after your own mind.  It takes Courage to believe what you DON’T see.   It takes Courage to resist fear.   It takes Courage not to be overwhelmed with the mission the Lord has set before you.  It takes Courage not to give to the doubt and despair and dismay that tries to loom over us and suck us in.   Look at how God stressed Courage to Joshua….

Joshua 1:5-9 (King James Version)

⁵There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

⁶Be strong and of a good COURAGE: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

⁷Only be thou strong and very COURAGEOUS, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.

⁸This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

⁹Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good COURAGE; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

God mentioned Courage to Joshua 3 times in one discourse.  I think He was trying to stress it’s importance.

So, little did I know that I needed Courage.  I did not purposefully set out to have Courage.  I”m just finding that I’m not as afraid now to follow God in this area.  As  look back over my time of struggle and burn out I see that I was wrapped down in fear…fear of the state, fear of the government, fear of the school district, fear of people, fear of the future(of my children not getting good jobs or getting into college if I didn’t do things the way the school district did it).  That is why what God showed me in Matthew 6:19-34 is such a blessing.

There’s freedom in Courage and there is Courage in Freedom.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:17

¹⁷Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Walking after the Spirit of the Lord (in ANY area) brings wonderful Freedom and Liberty….and Courage…and Rest

This is borne out and confirmed in Matthew 11:28.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-Message Bible)

This is how this passage of scripture set me free from many things.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:    ²⁰But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Don’t set my heart on earthly dictates and measures and possessions where these things are temporal.  But set my heart on what is valuable to heaven and valuable in heaven where the lasting virtue is

²¹For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Because what I value most is where my heart will be and is what I’ll seek after.

²²The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. ²³But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

For what I seek after will fill my whole body and direct the course of my life

²⁴No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

I can’t serve 2 masters.  Neither the dictates of the school district nor the Homeschool Regulations can be my masters.(I can stay in compliance with them but they cannot be my masters…what I base my philosophy and method and life on)

²⁵Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?   ²⁶Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

There take no thought for my children’s academic accomplishments or future test scores.  Are not my children more than test scores?

²⁷Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  ²⁸And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:  ²⁹And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  ³⁰Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  ³¹Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  ³²(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

For God knows that my children need to pass these tests and He knows the skills and aptitudes they need to have in order to fulfill HIS call on their lives.  He knows we need to be in compliance with the many regulations of our state.

³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness-HIS WAY of discipling and loving and teaching my children.  Do what He says to do and how He says to do it and all these things(test scores, career, knowledge, understanding, wisdom) will come and be added (in His time and His way).

³⁴Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

So take no thought for next year’s test scores or my son’s short attention span. Trust God for today(and tomorrow); tomorrow will take care of itself.