The Most Important Lessons of This Spring

Some of the most important things we can learn
are not to be found in textbooks.

Little did anyone imagine that every kid in Minnesota (and in many other states across the country) would be doing school at home for a substantial amount of time this spring. Whether you are a homeschooler by choice or a coronavirus homeschooler, this season is hard. We are facing circumstances beyond anything we imagined, and we are doing it with kids bouncing off the walls. Lest we overburden ourselves by trying to check off every academic assignment as we face this crisis, let’s remember that the most important things we learn this spring probably won’t be found in textbooks or assessed on tests.

My kids and I will continue to do our school routine. We will work on learning math, but we will also work on learning to plot out our movements carefully. How long can we go between trips to the store? Just how much milk do we need for one week? If we cut the pan of brownies into four columns instead of three, how many more servings will we get? We will learn to use carefully and waste less.

We will work on learning to read, but also learn to get along with each other, wrestling through relationship at close range. How does the tone of my voice change the impact of my words? How can I love my sister when she is crabby? How can I help my talkative younger brother feel loved when he just needs to be heard? We will learn how to help each other make it through when the days feel long.

We will work on learning to write, but also on learning to make our own fun. When the books have all been read, why not write down our own stories? What new adventure could we imagine today? What game can we play together? How can we use what is in our recycling bin to make something new? We will learn to be thankful for the home we have, the toys we have, the books we have, the richness we have. We will learn how to happily “make do” with what is on hand.

We will work on learning history, and we will see how often man’s plans did not come to fruition. As we walk through days of canceled concerts, canceled playdates, canceled gatherings, and canceled getaways, we will learn to hold loosely to our plans and instead trust that the Lord orders all our days for our good. We will learn to enjoy the times He gives us. We will learn to accept from our Father’s hand that which He deems best, even when we don’t perceive His purposes.

We will work a little on science, and on how to wash hands and do the “vampire cough.” Mostly, we will learn how to take care of people when they are sick—checking on their needs when we are going to the store, asking if they need anything from our own pantries and bookshelves, and offering soup and muffins and movies. We will learn how to serve our friends, family, and neighbors by staying home when we are sick, and then going out to help others when we are healthy. We will learn to keep germs at home but to give loving service everywhere.

We will work on memorizing verses to help us fight fear, but we will also learn what it means to worship God when church is closed. We will learn to set aside time in our daily and weekly schedules for reading, singing, praying, and listening to sermons even when there are no eyes keeping track of our attendance. We will learn that church is not just a building, and that worship is not just for Sunday mornings. We will learn to honor God because He is worthy of it, and because taking time to worship Him for who He is and what He has done strengthens our weary hearts.

We will learn to trust God for His provision and to rest in His protective care. We will learn to live bravely, to keep on going even when the headlines would make us want to curl up and stay in bed. We will learn more what it means to live by faith in future grace—to trust that the grace we need for tomorrow will be there for us when we need it, just as the grace for this moment is here to sustain us now. We will learn to hold tightly to the hand of our all-knowing God as we travel through unknown valleys. We will learn that our strength and our courage cannot come from our own hearts or resources, but must flow from His sovereign strength and all-sufficient abundance.

Lord-willing, we will have learned a lot by the end of this school year, but hopefully the most memorable lessons will not have come from textbooks. In this unique season, may we learn how to live better, love bravely, and walk boldly in the strength that God supplies. May we learn that He is our truest Help, our best Strength, our only Salvation, and our most-needed Life. That, after all, is what we need to know the most.

What Does the Bible Say?

People wearing masks and blue gloves pushed carts piled with bottled water, canned tuna, and whatever kind of soap they could find. The aisles for paper products were filled with empty pallets. The panic was nothing like I encountered before. My cart was piled with Scotch tape, cheese sticks, etc., on a normal Sam’s Club run. Standing in line amid a people afraid of coronavirus, my heart began to tremble.

Fast-forward through the weekend: Events were cancelled. Schools closed. Churches closed. Stores closed.

Monday morning, I woke up sick with a sore throat and fever. That evening, our county libraries closed—indefinitely. What next? Anxiety woke me in the night. Tired of tossing and turning, I decided to take stock of our pantry and freezer, but counting bags of frozen corn didn’t calm my mind. Finally I stopped and asked myself:

“What does the Bible say?”

About what? About anything. That was my parents’ other quick draw challenge for me as a teenager. For attitude and moods, they had, “Give me a verse.” For science theories, economics, movies, books, politics, wars, current issues, disasters, magazine articles, world religions, sexuality, education, etc., my parents’ guiding question was, “What does the Bible say?” What does the Bible have to say regarding the issue that is in front of you? How do the statements being made hold up according to the truth in Scripture?

Does Scripture really address every issue we come upon? “Texting” doesn’t show up in the concordance, but consider how much the Bible teaches about our speech and the impact of our words (Ephesians 4:29). Perhaps “abortion” does not appear, but the teaching of God’s creation of the child in the womb speaks of personhood from conception (Psalm 139:13-16). Cohabiting and cocaine? You won’t find them, but you will find teachings about purity (Hebrews 13:4) and about treating your body as God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The exact terms of our times aren’t always explicitly named in the Bible, yet every principle to guide us through the maze of life is found there. If you dig into the text, the Bible really does have something to say about almost anything. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

God did not mean for us to be confused and afraid. He means for us to be complete—equipped for every good work. However, the clarifying truth we need in order to be equipped for life here comes through His Word. God gave us Scripture to communicate who He is, what He is doing, and what is going on in the world. When we put on the lenses of Scripture, we begin to see the spiritual forces at work in the world; to discern the impact of sin and its curse on our daily lives; and to behold the daily mercy and grace God bestows on an undeserving world. God does not mean for us to go through life bleary-eyed, but such perspective isn’t downloaded overnight. We must open the Bible and search it out.

If we choose to leave our Bibles unused, what are we left with? John Calvin writes,

For just as eyes, when dimmed with age or weakness or by some other defect, unless aided by spectacles, discern nothing distinctly; so, such is our feebleness, unless Scripture guides us in seeking God, we are immediately confused. (John Calvin, Institutes, I.xiv.1)

“Immediately confused.” There I was—feverish, in my pajamas, counting peas at 4am. What I needed, what countless other people needed, more than anything, was to put on spectacles of clarity, to open the Book and answer the question, “What does the Bible say?”

Tired of worry, I grabbed my Bible and started flipping through the familiar pages. What does the Bible say about all our fear of this disease, of death, of our daily needs for food?

First, we do have reason to fear because we are all sinners. “[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The consequence of this sin? “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). In short, we are all going to die. While we will not all die of coronavirus, this disease is a revelation of God’s right anger toward sin (Romans 1:18). This virus is not outside of His sovereign command. “Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?” (Amos 3:6). We are living under a curse, and we and all creation groan because of it (Romans 8:20-23).

Second, God Himself has provided and offered us salvation. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God has worked out salvation for us. All we need do is come to Him. He will save us. Eternal life with God in a heaven free of sickness, pain, and death is available in Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:3-4).

Third, God’s salvation doesn’t exempt God’s people from suffering and death. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b). History is full of saints who endured hardship and died. The difference is they lived and died trusting the Lord to sustain their faith all the way to heaven. They persevered by holding fast to the words of the Word.

Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:31-34:

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Or again, Jesus speaking in Luke 12:4-7:

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Or recall King David’s testimony in Psalm 37:25-28a:

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.

Or again, the psalmist in Psalm 91:1-6

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

Finally, God is the sovereign power of the universe. “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). “For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth” (Psalm 47:2). “[F]or I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’” (Isaiah 46:9b-10). In other words, coronavirus is not king. God is. If He commanded it to stop, coronavirus would fall dead—in a millisecond. God has sent plagues before (see Exodus 7-12), and He has also stopped them (see 2 Samuel 24:16).  Should He choose to let coronavirus continue, He will be with us through it: “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

Friends, in days when the internet can hardly keep up with the changing crisis, may we rest in knowing “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). When panic comes, may we put on our spectacles, open His Word, and ask, “What does the Bible say?” May we find faith and courage there. After all, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). May His Word help us not to hoard, but to share; not to panic, but to serve; not to fear, but to trust. When bleary-eyed people ask why we are calm, why we have hope, why we can give away our extra toilet paper, let’s tell them what the Bible says.

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Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Ed. John T. McNeill. Trans. Ford Lewis. Battles. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1960. 160-1. Print.

Give Them A Verse

One idea: use your walls to give your kids the Word.

Crash! The collapse of a magnet tile palace resounded throughout the house.

“MOM! Beatrix just ruined my structure!” fumed Edison as he stomped into the kitchen where I was doing dishes. Beatrix was close behind, holding back tears.

“I didn’t mean to!” she sniffled, tugging on his sleeve. He jerked free and wheeled around to face her. I caught his hand midair.

My week had been spent refereeing one sibling spat after. I would have gladly sent the kids outside if fresh air would have settled their grievances, but I knew from experience the fights would just continue—with snowballs and whitewashed faces. Besides, it was below zero. As my children continued quarreling around a heap of magnet tiles, only one thought came to mind:

Give me a verse.

That was the challenge my mom directed at me if I started sporting a bad attitude or descending into anxiety. “Give me a verse” meant, “Give me one Bible verse to justify your attitude and actions at this moment. Do you know of one Bible verse that would legitimize this funk or rebellion you’re indulging?” By the time I was in high school, I knew to expect this of mom. She didn’t yell it or threaten it. The words came out even and calm, and so decisive. If I didn’t have a verse, mom did. And if you didn’t have the Bible on your side, you better get ready to change.

Give me a verse! I wanted to zing it at the four kids fighting on the floor at my feet. Then a convicting thought struck: they don’t have a verse. They don’t know a verse. I haven’t given them a verse.

Now just to clarify, my husband and I have helped our children memorize verses. Right about the time they turned two years old, we started with Genesis 1:1 and Ephesians 6:1. They have done some Bible memory for Sunday school and special verses at home to help with nighttime fear. But in that moment I realized they didn’t have a comprehensive arsenal of verses in their minds that they could apply in various situations. You could say they should “obey your parents in the Lord for this is right” by ceasing this quarreling spree, but surely there are better verses for why you should stop fighting with your siblings.

We picked up the tiles and somehow made it through the rest of the day—with more fighting but with mommy working through a perspective change. That night I shared my idea with my husband and went to work. It was time to give these kids some verses—specifically, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Valentine’s Day was about three weeks away and a highly anticipated event in the eyes of my children. Deciding to build on their excitement, I split 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a into 14 segments. Having typed each segment up on the computer, I printed them out, cut them out, and taped them face-down to the wall in our kitchen. At dinner time on February 1, we turned over the first segment, discussed it, and started memorizing it as a family. We repeated the process for the next thirteen days, completing the passage on Valentine’s Day. During those weeks, every time a fight broke out, I prompted the kids to begin reciting the portion of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a we had learned to that point. The verses didn’t put an end to all fighting, but it gave everyone a new perspective when approaching the conflict. The repetition helped their memory as well as their application. After all, the kids didn’t just need to learn the words. They needed to learn how to apply the words to their personal lives.

Valentine’s Day has passed, but we’ve kept the verses on the wall and review them in tense moments. If I want my kids to know how to talk to themselves with the Word of God as adults, I must show them how to do it now, even in the face of fierce attitude. How better to put sin to death than with the Sword of the Spirit? Maybe in helping my kids handle Scripture, the Word will take root and grow in their own hearts and minds until, by saving grace, they embrace it and wield it themselves. That it our prayer.

Moms, we need to give our kids verses—not just verses to make them feel safe (like John 3:16 or Psalm 23), but verses that show them God’s greatness and verses that help them slay their sin. Our own words can only do so much to impact the heart, but the Word of God does not return empty (Isaiah 55:11). Consider a few ways you can help your children to learn the Word:

Speak verses to your children. When Edison was having nightly battles with fear, I started speaking the same verses over him every night. At first I focused on two short verses, repeating them to him two or three times at bedtime. Soon he could say them with me. Later I could begin the verse and he could finish it. Now he knows them—having never seen them on paper. Beatrix, nestled in the bunk below Edison’s bed, surprised me one night with a tearful question: “Why don’t you ever do verses with me?” I started with her that night. She already knew three of Edison’s four verses from memory simply because she had heard them spoken every night.

Memorize verses with your children. If you have many children and little time to work one-on-one, I recommend beginning Bible memory with the “one for all” approach. Chose a verse or passage you would like everyone in the family to know. Break it into doable segments and work on memorizing it together at meal time or during family devotions. Say it together and to each other. Discuss what it means and practice applying it in daily life.

Apply verses to your family life. We can help our kids learn and apply the Bible by doing it for them out loud as we go about our day. When we see a child getting angry with a sibling, we could warn him, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). When we are outside admiring the sunset, we might remind our kids that, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). When there is a big job to do (spring cleanup is just around the corner), we should encourage everyone “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23).

By the time my kids are in their teenage years, I hope to be able to challenge them to “give me a verse” when they are mired in a mood. But if that day is going to come, I must first give my kids verses. Moms, let’s work to fill our children’s minds and hearts with truth. It doesn’t mean they will be saved, but it will give us a good foundation for spiritual conversations. As we walk through this season with our kids, may we speak the Word over them, memorize it with them, and help them apply it to life. Even when we don’t see immediate fruit, may we take heart in what God has spoken in Isaiah 55:10-11:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Memorizing Scripture When You've Lost Your Mind: Four P's to Help Us Persevere

Once upon a time, I was able to go to the grocery store without a list and purchase all the necessary ingredients for a week’s worth of meals. I didn’t use bookmarks when reading, either. I remembered the page and paragraph I where had left off, even if I didn’t pick up the book again for days. And there was no need for a contacts list; the phone numbers were in my head. But no more, friends, no more.

You could blame it on pregnancy, or maybe age. You might even say this mental flakiness is caused by my four constant companions who are skilled in interrupting mommy’s thought train long enough for me to forget I ever had a thought. Whatever the cause, my short-term memory seems to have taken a long-term leave. And yet, now is when I could benefit from it the most.

In my last post, I discussed the need to stop listening to myself and start talking to myself. Nothing can slay a bad attitude better than the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17b). The problem is, I don’t always have easy access to my Bible in that crisis moment. Flipping through the pages of my Bible isn’t allowed when I’m navigating traffic with a screaming toddler in the backseat. Even if I were home simply flipping pancakes when my daughter walks in and bursts into tears, I seldom have my Bible open and ready next to the hot stove. Yet it is in those moments—when the fight breaks out in the backseat, when the child is fearful with sickness during the night, when I get a call while fixing dinner that a loved one is in the hospital—that I need that sword the most to fight through anger, anxiety, and discouragement.

The answer to this predicament is easy enough: memorize the Word. As writer of Psalm 119:9-11 explains, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” The hard part is to actually do the answer—to try to memorize Scripture in a season when I can’t even remember my age without some quick math. How do you go about memorizing Scripture when you feel like you don’t have a brain? Intentionally—with prayer; paper and pen; persistent practice; and partnership.

First, pray. Ask God to help you memorize His Word. Bible memory isn’t easy, it isn’t something the devil wants us to succeed in, and it isn’t something indwelling sin wants to dwell on. Still, however frazzled and defeated you feel, God is able and willing to strengthen you to do His will. If you desire to memorize Scripture, ask God for the resolve and the help to do it. Jesus says in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Memory for Bible is a good thing. Ask for it—and then persevere to work at it.

Second, use paper and pen to help you memorize. God will help us memorize, but it will take work. When memorizing a passage, open your physical Bible, read the verse on the page, and then write it out on a notecard or sticky note. Why so old-fashioned? Why not just pull the verse up on your phone and stare at it? For a couple of reasons: First, while smart phones have lovely Bible and Bible memory apps, they also have a lot of other apps that pull our attention away from the Word—because there is no time like devotions to check the weather, the news, email, or that text message that just popped up. When we step away from technology for a few minutes, we give our brains a better chance to focus without distraction. Second, muscle memory aids memorization. When I take the time to actually write out a grocery list, even if I lose that list I am more likely to remember what was on it. The act of spelling out and shaping each word with my hand helps cement those words in my brain. If I write something down a couple of times, I’m more likely to remember it.

Third, persistently practice the passage you want to memorize. Write the verse down on a few sticky notes and put them up in locations you frequent so you can review the verse multiple times a day: the fridge door, the microwave, the bathroom mirror, your closet door, your phone. Write it on a notecard and make it your bookmark. Before you read your book, read your verse. Before you read anything else for devotions, read your verse. Before you go to sleep at night, read your verse. Say it out loud, write it down, and type it out and text it to a friend. Practice makes perfect, so repeat, repeat, repeat!

Finally, find a partner who will offer you accountability and encouragement in your Bible memory efforts. This partner could be your spouse, your child, or a friend. Ask them to pray for you, to check in on your progress, and to listen you recite your verse. Invite them to memorize with you. Recently our family worked on memorizing 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a together. We worked on it daily at meal times, introducing a new segment of the passage at the dinner table where we discussed it and recited it together. My kids were eager to prompt or correct me with my memory faltered—and having them listen to my recitation helped their own memorizing as well.

Friends, it isn’t easy to get our brains to remember much in these busy days, and we can think up any number of legitimate excuses to push Bible memory off to a later date. Let’s not. The Word of God is worth storing up in our hearts. We need those words of truth to strengthen our hands, quiet our tempers, calm our fears, and help us discern the spiritual state of our hearts, our children, and our world. If we want the apt Bible verse to be on the tip of our tongues when crisis hits, we must first have it stored in our hearts. With paper and pen, practice, and partnership, let’s fight do just that. Let’s pray that God will equip our minds to remember His Word, and then persevere to memorize it.