Rigor and Rest
Over the past few months, these emotion-filled terms have become a source of panic and reaction in both society and the church. Businesses are failing. Houses for sale sit dormant, depreciating below their mortgaged value. Once robust bank accounts, 401Ks, and IRAs are near empty. Sadly, many believe the government is the answer to our problems.
Through it all, the church is seldom seen or heard. Like the world around us, we place our trust in the gods of the state, and consequently know little of the rest that the one true God has offered us.. In this lack of distinctiveness, we unknowingly neglect to prepare our homeschooled children for the rigor and rest of life in Christ.
As Christians, we must look at these difficult days with clarity and resolve, realizing that wonderful opportunities surround us on every side. As the world goes further into debt, we must pursue rigorous, productive work. When panic rules the streets, we can enjoy the refreshing rest that comes in God’s sovereign hand. This is homeschooling at its best! This is life!
Rigor
As I write, it is early morning, before 6:00 A.M., and my two oldest sons are outside in the pouring rain with a dear (not to mention younger and stronger) friend of mine involved in an intense cross-training workout on the mountainside behind our home. My friend knows what it means to work hard, and is helping me with the hard work of rearing godly young men.
When back inside and showered, my sons will continue their rigorous training with me in the study of God’s Word, creation, history, philosophy, and so forth. By eight A.M. they will have completed a forty-minute workout, showered, dressed, and spent an hour with Dad. By the time the typical government schooled child is getting off the bus these young men have been pushed to their physical and mental limit. We purposely push them beyond what they think is reasonable. We push them to work harder than they have ever worked before. We call them to manhood.
One of the great concerns I have for my children is their perspective on hard work: God gave work before the fall into sin and the sluggard will come to ruin. These are radical yet biblical thoughts of which the average game boy knows little.
Rest
Equally as important as rigor is the rest God gives His people when they “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; [and] do not fret . . . because of the wicked man who brings evil schemes to pass” (Proverbs 37:7). While the world reels in turmoil and the “talking heads” theorize what might come next, we live in peace with the knowledge that God has issued our marching orders. They are the same today as they were yesterday and as they will be tomorrow, as Matthew 6:33 reminds us; “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.” Here the world sees in us unswerving peace and resolve. Here God prepares us for anything He desires to give us or to take from us. Here we are distinct, preserving salt, and life-giving light.
If this sounds too idealistic, you probably understand it but do not believe it, for the apostle Paul told the Philippians that we truly have a “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
The Yoke of Rest
In these uncertain times, when many (even within the church) are reacting rather than living and learning, believers must bear the yoke of Christ well. It is a light and easy yoke that the world does not know or understand. In the rigor of this yoke, you and your children will “find rest unto your soul” (Matthew 11:29).
©2009 Homeschooling Today magazine, Nehemiah Four, LLC