HOMESCHOOLED
In the Classroom with God
September 27th, 2023
See, I’ve been in the classroom lately. With God. And while the lessons have been extremely difficult, excruciatingly painful, exhaustingly real, they also are the purpose of a patient Teacher’s Lesson Plan—extravagantly designed for my good and ultimately His use. And He is (home)schooling me so I may know that He has my best interests strategically in sync with the beat of His heart.
TODAY’S LESSON: what is Scandalous!
Psalm 145:8, ‘You are kind and tenderhearted to those who don’t deserve it and very patient with people who fail you. Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness.’ (TPT)
The audacity of God’s mercy and grace bewilders me. How dare He! How dare He accept me as I am! How dare He not give me what I so deserve! How dare He give me what I don’t deserve! The scandalous, audacious, extravagant love of God undoes me as I drop on my knees at the foot of the Cross, as I fall flat on my face at His feet, as it comes over my spirit and I am unable to fathom all that He has done for me.
I have heard it said that Grace is the ‘unmerited favor of God’. Someone said it like this: ‘God’s response at Christ’s expense’! Mercy is also unmerited. It is the kindness and compassion of a Holy God; to grant clemency and leniency, forgiveness and forbearance. The fairness and justness of God is bottomless.
It is like this: I reckon that I have faltered and stumbled time and again. Some hiccups have been minor, but there are other gut-punching choices I have enacted. They have not only hurt me but also others. Time and again, they finally caught up with me. There have been many occasions when I slid by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. I should have sat up and taken notice, but with all my decisions, I continued to play the card, one-step-forward-two-steps-back type of behavior. Suddenly, one step too many in the wrong direction, and it all came crashing down around me, as I found myself backed into a corner with a bulls-eye targeted for my heart.
Maybe I called it ‘luck’, and when ‘bad things happened’, I called it ‘karma’. But really and truly, the Lord calls it mercy and grace. I stood before the Judge, with my head downcast and my heart collapsing on wobbly knees. I expect a stern glance and an impatient sigh. “You again?!” I suspect He will bellow. “What is wrong with you?!” I know He will bray. “Guard, come! Get her and throw her in the Dungeon of Dumbest Decisions. And throw away the key!” I can already hear Him mumble, so not under his breath, “I never want to see you again!” I prepare myself to meet His steely gaze with one of my own, hard-hearted and too far gone, past the point of no return and unreachable. The clamor of unshed tears and humility falling like hopelessness to the ground where I intend to stomp them into the dirt.
But God. At once, I hear, “Child, what have we here? Guard, loose her! Come here, Child; come before Me.” I swallow. The cuffs binding my wrists drop off. The chains on my ankles dissolve like snow and the shackles binding my heart fall away. I trudge toward Him, and when I reach His side, He gently wipes the tears that have begun to fall from my face and tips my chin so at once we see eye to eye.
He begins, in a voice resembling fleece, warm and comforting. “My kindness is not weakness; it is mercy. My love and favor is not negligence nor ignorance and idiocy; it is grace. I hereby set you free from the captivity of your choices. I pardon you, and instead of the death sentence you are under, I exonerate you by giving you a life sentence—to live better, fuller, freer, unrestrained. I place on your life a stamp of justification, and I grant you full immunity to cross over from the world you’ve existed in, to this new way of living where you can walk into Forever with Me.
He continues, His words float like cotton candy around me, and I feel His love blossoming for me like a field of dreams, fragrant and perfect, like lavender. “See, Child, I have already been into your tomorrow. I know what will befall you. I know where you are headed and where you will end up. If I do not set you free; if I do not offer you hope; if I do not handle you with a care and compassion which invites you home to Me instead of pushing you back out into a world that is snatching you, hoping to harm you in a way of getting back at Me. I am sorry; you are but a casualty to an enemy vying for your attention, but I have died for your affection. So, I am praying you choose Me.
“Come closer,” He whispers softly, as He stares deep into my soul. “I will never fail you, nor will I leave you. I will not retreat from you when you do wrong or after a long day. You will never see My back. I promise there will always be an open door so you can come—and even go—as you please. I will always desire for you to come home to me. I long for your company and devotion, so much so that I created eternity with you in mind. I will be your strongest supporter and your biggest fan, and at the end of the day, I will always leave the light on.”
I don’t really remember my reaction. I mean, what does one say to that? There are no words actually. I simply knew my heart was gone and forever my destiny was changed. That was many years ago now, but walking with God is even sweeter today than it was back then. It has not grown weary or old, and He has kept every word He spoke over me in my fractured state of being. God’s love for humanity is scandalous, and it withstands the test of time!
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:
If you have ever done something ‘wrong’ or considered ‘bad’, how did you feel? ________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________ .
How did it affect you and your future? _____________________________________________________ .
If you surrender it to Jesus, He will make everything alright.
‘I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you, instructing you and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with My eyes as your guide. So, don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before. Don’t make Me tug you and pull you along. Just come with Me!”’ (Psalm 32:8-9, TPT)
