Education & God's Sovereignty

So the past few weeks have been chaotic to say the least in the world of Pennsylvania education. The governor has proposed a budget that, if passed, will lower the amount of funding public schools are getting immensely. This means that schools are being forced to get rid of things like kindergarten, art & music programs, sports, and that they're laying off teachers. This also means for the kids in those schools that if there are fewer teachers their classes sizes will grow and their ability to receive the help they need will grow slim.

My education professors over the past four years have always said that if we can get out of the state to teach we should do it because Pennsylvania has an odd problem- we have more certified teachers than there are jobs, where all of the states surrounding us have the opposite problem. This is true now more than ever.

Last night as a class requirement I had to go to an on campus rally against the budget. My professor was speaking and told us that if half the class agreed to go she would cancel two classes and a quiz (when you through around incentives like cancelling class and tests things usually go your way). So I went, along with the rest of my class. It was by far the most political/hippie-esque thing I have ever been to. There was chanting, singing, and waving of signs. To be honest I was completely freaked out and out of my element by being there. Don't get me wrong- I'm all for education and wanting children to succeed but I don't think yelling and making mean phone calls to state representatives is at all the way about it. What struck me about the rally was that every story anyone shared was about them, how they could get further ahead if this budget doesn't pass, how they could make more money in the future with their college degrees and how the people who want to pass this budget are the enemy. They continuously referred to the political leaders of our state as the enemy.
The enemy? Now that's taking it a little too far. Being someone who knows very little about politics and very little about what's going on in the news and I'll be honest, I don't really know full extent of what is going on.

I do know that God is in control and that He knew that this was going to happen centuries before today. I know that things may seem bad, but that my God is mighty. I know that for how much people feel slighted by this that there is a God who holds the key to hope. Our society is flawed, it has been since the moment that Adam and Eve decided to go against what God specifically told them and sinned. We are sinful, we are selfish, we are detestable. The only cure for our faulty hearts is Christ, to live to glorify Him with everything. We can't go pointing our fingers and others, yelling and waving signs, because although education matters- Christ matters most.
No matter how discouraged, or upset we get by the things of this world we need to keep in perspective that our God is greater than our worries and fears, He conquered death and sin and He and He alone gives us the choice to belong to Him, to live for Him, to live in joy and hope and peace. Our God is sovereign.


"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

"I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips." Psalm 34:1

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:11-12

Identity and Reliance

Well, it's summertime! I feel like the weeks leading up to summer are so full of anticipation for free time to relax and now that summer's actually here I'm ready to actually be back at school haha. If anything these past two weeks have been a great time of relaxing and reflecting on this year. This year was probably one of the most stressful years, not really academically but spiritually, and emotionally. Looking back I see how God was using each event to mold me. When I look back on my journals and emails with friends from the semester I notice some funny themes, I started the year of questioning what it means to have identity in Christ and what Christ calls me, and asking God to teach me to fully rely on Him. Well for part of the semester I went through the book of Ephesians and wrote down everything that God calls us and everything He says about Himself. After finishing the study I felt like I knew a little bit more of who God calls me to be and how I am viewed by Christ and moved on to a different study. Well at the end of the semester I found the topic of identity coming up again, in almost every sermon, many conversations and through what I was reading in scripture funny huh? This time the focus revolved around the passage in John 15 about the vine and the branches.

'"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." John 15:1-6

Verse 5 stands out to me the most... apart from Christ we can do NOTHING. We need to be rooted in Him and in Him alone. Our reliance needs to me on Christ and TRUSTING that He knows what He is doing with our lives, we need Him and His guidance in order to bear fruit.

"Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1a

I need to surrender everything wholeheartedly to Him and be rooted in Him as my source, my builder, for everything I do, say, think, and where my attitude is rooted.

When our identity strays away from Christ, I think a lot of our sin sprouts. For example, if our identity is in a relationship our focus on God strays and we start to try to please that person whether it’s through actions or words. When God is our strength and our source, He truly is EVERYTHING we need. I often find myself praying for God to do certain things, with all of hope that He’ll do it MY way. God is all powerful and knows everything, so who am I to tell Him what to do, as if I know what’s best for me. “I am the vine and you are the branches, if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do NOTHING.” Without Christ in all we do our efforts are fruitless. If not for Him what are we working for?

I've been learning even more about reliance in preparing for Africa this summer. Going on this trip is such a leap of faith for me. I'm the type of person who likes to know 'the plan' and know what is coming up and be organized and ready. I also like to be in almost constant contact with those who are closest to me. I start to feel really insecure when I don't have control or when communication from those I love and am in a new environment. Don't get me wrong, I love camping and being able to just shut my phone off and be away from computers and technology for a few days, but I like to be the one to decide when it is okay for those things to come back in my life haha.

Well in just a few weeks I'll be surrendering my planning, my communication, and leaving everything and everyone that is familiar to me for six weeks. It's been amazing to see how God has been preparing me this year for this and how my finances and everything has been falling together. I can't begin to explain how freeing and cool it has been to just trust that the money will come in and to see how it HAS been coming in. God definitely has been working in my heart and mind to prepare me for what is coming. I don't know much about this trip, I know some of the possibilities and have talked with some of the people going through email a little bit and normally I feel like I would be freaking out in fear of the unknown, but God has given me this peace. Trusting He's got it all under control and knows what is best for me is all I can do right now. God is good!

"You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]." Isaiah 26:3-4 (amplified version)