I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” –Exodus 6:7-8
Because of their unbelief, the generation of Hebrews that God brought out of Egypt only got to experience the first half of the promise, being delivered from the burden of slavery. Sadly, they failed to walk in the better half of the blessing by going into the land which God swore to give to their forefathers. How did this breakdown happen? They became caught up with all of the challenges of learning how to think for themselves and failed to walk by faith, knowing what God had promised He was able to deliver. In spite of seeing the signposts of water, manna, meat and protection, when it came time to make the choice to enter in, they walked away.
Over the years I have witnessed many Christian parents wrestle with the choice of homeschooling. While I do believe it is biblically wise to count the cost, at some point we must either “fish or cut bait.” I have seen spiritual tragedy strike more than one family who thought and thought about it until outright rebellion manifested in the hearts of their sons and daughters. While homeschooling is in no way salvific, it is one means of grace that God uses to till the soil of our children’s hearts and, by that same grace, keep them from hardening the fallen hearts they received from their representative parents, Adam and Eve.
God, in His love and sovereignty has ordained this season of Coronavirus. While it has been a challenging time for our nation, it has caused many parents to evaluate how well their children are doing in the public school system. A large number have decided to come out of the public school system and are in the opening days of homeschooling. This is definitely an exciting time, but, like the Hebrews, it is also filled with challenges.
Although it is sometimes difficult for us to admit, the majority of us tend to think like the Hebrews who were a part of the exodus out of Egypt. We have, to a certain degree, farmed out the education and discipleship of our children to secular sources. It is so easy and so subtle to start trusting others to do the job God has equipped and prepared for us to do. It is such a temptation to believe that trained teachers can have a better pulse on the lives of 28 students than a parent can on 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 children. The comparison would be ludicrous if we had not been so indoctrinated into that system of thought.
When we go through these sanctifying seasons, we must not look back to the ease of Egypt but to the potential in Canaan Land. We cannot content ourselves in coming out. We must go all the way into the heart of God by trusting Him to give us what we need when we need it. Being stuck halfway between the two visions is like being caught on top of a barb wire fence, delicate to be sure.
The Hebrews met stiff opposition when Moses first proclaimed, “Let me people go!” Though all of them came out, not all went in. They were overthrown in the compromise of the wilderness. Whether you are a new homeschooler or a veteran going through a challenging season, may we set our sights not on what we have come out of but on what God is taking us into.
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