Built on the Rock

Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25. and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27. and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

We hold to our degrees, and careers for safety and security, and what a blessing it is to have job security. However, not even the earth under our feet is unmovable. The only sure thing in this world that is unmovable is the rock of Jesus Christ. He is our security, He is our sure foundation that we can stand on during a covid pandemic, natural disaster, family crisis or personal illness. We need the rock that is unmovable.

What are we building our lives upon? What are we building our careers upon? And what happens when we lose the career, we have worked so hard to build? All of our manufactured systems and constructs will end one day. It’s a life built on the rock of Christ that will stand secure.

This is certainly true for education. We can see the darkness and seeming lack of warmth. And the picture… well it looks bleak. It feels like there is no bright spot. There is no warmth. In truth, without the foundation of Christ we have no hope and the picture over all of is quite bleak.

But friends, when we add the framework of God’s perspective to our current situation the picture changes.

What does God see? What is His perspective on the matter?

I come back to the image of the picture frame and the gift of the unwanted picture. It was too dark for my home. It was collecting dust and cluttering my house. So, it had to go. This dark and gloomy picture was in my yard sale pile ready to sell to the highest bidder. In fact, I tried to sell it, but it did not sell.

Much like this picture was unwanted, our kids are often unwanted. They seem without hope to change or help in any way. Unwanted and cast aside, we feel powerless to do anything about the situation. But remember it wasn’t until I saw the picture through the wood frame that I liked the picture. It was then, when I saw the beautiful wood frame laying next to this unwanted picture, that there was warmth and light. Suddenly, I LOVED this picture. (Please refer to “Reframing I, to get the full story.) 

We need God’s framework for our kids. We need His thoughts and His mindset. What does HE have to say about our students? What are His thoughts about them? He is the one who made them and created them in their mothers womb.  He has a plan and purpose for each child who steps into our classrooms.

Let’s reframe our mindset with His mindset. Let’s ask God what He has to say about our kids. What does He feel about that student to is always negative. What does He feel about that one who is always talking back? What does He think about the quiet and shy recluse who disappears into the back wall of the classroom who is easy to overlook.

Yes, there are so many dark places. We can, however, reframe what we see with God’s framework, and bring light and warmth to the picture.

You see dear teacher, no matter how bright or bleak the picture is, we need God’s framework. We can lean on Him; we can rest in Him and trust in His guidance. He is our stable rock which doesn’t move.

We want Him to be our framework. We want Him to frame our thoughts, our attitudes, and feelings on education and the children He calls us to.

We can rely on our degrees and our titles to get us through, but in the end, our degrees don’t know our kids. Our alma mater can’t help you when you’ve reached the end your rope with that student you simply don’t know what to do with. Your title won’t help gain the respect of that child who has not been taught respect.

You want God to be your picture frame. You want Him to frame your words when you don’t know how to respond. You want Him to frame you emotions when they are out of control. You want God to frame your thoughts when you have tough decisions to make.

Prayer: Lord we humbly come to You as our master builder. We have learned to lean and rely on our own ways, and our own methods. Today we ask You to take the lead, in every area, from our classrooms to our living rooms. Take the lead in our decisions, from our careers to our relationships. Forgive us when we have leaned on our own strength and ability. We humbly submit to you as our master builder. In Jesus name Amen.

Thank you for reading today’s blog. Our hope is that your are encouraged and uplifted.