I think you will notice two very different types of posts on this blog; the homeschooling type of posts will be well organized and clearly laid out (I hope!) and the posts on faith will be written straight from the heart with not as much thought to layout and flow (although I will try my best).
I think it is so important to share out stories with each other. I know I have a lot to offer other homeschoolers and moms wanting to assist in their childs education; but even more than that I hope my story can point others to Jesus. Revelation 12:11 tells us “They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (The”him” they conquered is Satan). So if sharing my testimony and what the Lord has taught me will help even one person come to relationship with Christ, I am willing.
God has been giving me the same lesson over and over this year.
He wants my attention! And I know He wants yours too. This is what has been coming to me so many times through various studies this year: “what is the thing you think is better than God?”
Most likely you have one of these things. You might not want to admit it because you want to be a “good Christian” and say that of course God is the most important. But I am asking you, do your actions and thoughts match this statement? We dont win or improve when we aren’t honest with ourselves.
Lets go to the bible
Sisters, you need to know the Word. You need to be students of your Bible. I am going to reference here a passage where God makes it so clear to us that He wants us to acknowledge Him as in control. There are many more but for the sake of length I will stick to one today.
So I’ve been studying the book of Exodus lately. Well, for the last 11 weeks to be exact and I have 11 more to go! 22 weeks total in the book of Exodus and it has been unbelievable. I have learned so much and I want to share some of this with you today. Much of this info I learned through podcasts by Jen Wilkins (totally recommend) and fact checked myself (because we should always be doing that!)
If you have spent any time in church as a child I am sure you have heard of the 10 plagues of Egpyt. Incase you are reading this and don’t know what they are, in very early times the Israelites ( God’s chosen people) had to go to Egypt due to famine. The Israelites ended up in bondage as slaves to the people of Egypt but God had always promised they would not stay there. A man named Moses grew up and was asked by God to lead the Israelites to freedom and to have Pharoah (Egyptian leader) let them go. God assured Moses He would do a series of 10 plagues (bad things) to convince Pharoah to let the Israelites go, and also so that they would see His power and that He was God. Frequently through this passage in Exodus we see “that you may know that I am the Lord”. Pharoah, of course, refuses to let the Israelites leave, and the 10 plagues ensue. (This is a brief summary, please read the beginning chapters of Exodus if you aren’t familiar).
But did you know…
I learned something amazing through my study these last 11 weeks. I always assumed the plagues were sort of just at random – just things that in that day would have been so terrible. I just thought they were 10 bad events meant to crush the Egptians spirit and make them recognize God as the one true God. BUT I was so wrong. There was nothing radnom about the plagues. Did you know that each plague is a judgement on a specific Egyptian god? The Egyptians viewed Pharoah as a god as well as so many other gods and they relied on these and thought they were in control of all aspects of life. God systematically undid each gods “area” to show the Egyptians that it was He who was in control.
For instance, the first plague of turning the Nile River to blood was a judgement on the Egyptian God Khnum who was the river protector. The Egyptians saw the Nile as their source of life! In the first plague God took away it’s power and showed His. The sixth plague was boils (sores head to toe on all people) and was a judgement on the Egyptian goddess Isis, the goddess of medicine. God is showing them that Isis is not in control of their health, He is. The seventh plague was hail and it was a judgement on the Egyptian goddess Nut, the sky goddess. And so on and so forth. (If you are interested in the info on the rest of the plagues, email me!)
All of these different things the Egyptian people thought were keeping order in their world and they worshipped them! God had to systematically dismantle all the idols in their lives, through whatever means necessary, to bring them to Himself and the realization that they needed God! (paraphrase of Jen Wilkins)
How does this apply to me?
You may be thinking that this isn’t applicable to you because you dont worship a god of the sky or of fertility or anything like that. But do you worship your to do list? Do you worship your family? Do you worship your schedule? Do you worship your own abilities? I could go on and on. It may look slightly different in our world today but the idolatry is there nonetheless.
For me, I worshipped my own ability to control the situation. I would never have thought that I did or admitted that I worshipped anything other than God. I mean, I love God, I believe His word. But I had to be honest with myself. I had to realize that I was trying everything I could to control every situation to keep my anxiety at bay. I was thinking that my ability to schedule and control my circumstances was better than God. And do you know what, He was systematically dismantling those things through whatever means necessary, to bring me to the realization that I needed Him. Just like he had done to the Egyptians. The God of the Bible is still the God of today my friends. And what was true about Him then is still true about Him now.
What now?
Once I realized all the power I was giving myself, I wrestled with this for a long time. I knew I had to give up and surrender this control of my own life but I had no idea what that looked like. How could I just stop? I couldn’t see it. Because once again, I needed a plan! I needed to know what it would look like and exactly what I would do.
And that is where the post I wrote here is so important. I had girls speak hard truth to me. They basically told me I was getting in my own way and still holding on to control. They reminded me that it wasn’t about my feelings, that our feelings aren’t always true and we just need to act in what we know to be truth.
So I confessed. Do NOT miss the importance of confession. When you know you have sinned, confession is so important and humbling. Whether you like to admit it or not, valueing anything (including yourself) more than God is a sin. So I confessed in prayer to God and out loud in front of my army that I had been thinking I knew better and that I had to be in control and I said I wanted to give that control back to God. They prayed for me and we prayed together. I keep having to remind myself of this and God keeps having to remind me of it too. But I will keep fighthing to remind myself that He is what keeps my world in order! Not me!
So I ask you, What do you think is keeping your world in order?
Or, what do your actions show that you think is keeping your world in order? Be honest with yourself. I promise you, there is a sense of relief to give that control back to the one who deserves it.
If I can help you, please contact me. This is such a brief overview on the topic but I’d love to chat with anyone more about it!
Let God, the creator of the universe, be in control!
