Daily Focus - Strength under Fire

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid" (Psalm 27:1)?

An emergency in my brother's family required me to give up our normal homeschooling day to watch his children. Looking out the window, I observed his children and mine playing together in the big tractor tire sand box. Considering that seven children were crowded into one small area, they were getting along quite well. Then, the inevitable happened. One of my brother's sons got upset because his space was violated, and he pushed my oldest daughter out of the sand box. Amazingly, my four-year-old son stepped up to defend his big sister. Raising himself to full height, he said, "You can't treat my sister like that!" My son never even considered the consequences of defiantly challenging his older cousin. The love for his sister filled him with a righteous courage that was ready to take on someone twice his size!

Defending our family is something we all experience as homeschoolers. Although we don't intend to take a defensive posture, many times the world pushes us around or throws punches that require us to take a stand. However, in Christian love, we must allow the Lord to be the One who speaks through us. Like Jehoshaphat as he stood before the armies of Moab and Ammon in 2 Chronicles 20, we need to defend ourselves from those who oppose homeschooling in God's strength instead of our own. "Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's" (2 Chronicles 20:15b). When the Lord is in the battle, all we need to do is sing the praises of homeschooling and let God do the defending.

Has homeschooling put you in the middle of a battle? Maybe you're ready to take things into your own hands to protect your family from unkind remarks or attacks. Don't let Satan tempt you to fight in the flesh. Let the Lord give you the words to say and the wisdom to respond in a way that will glorify Him. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves" (2 Timothy 2:24-25a).

Father, thank You for being a mighty God who is perfectly capable of protecting my family. Give me the wisdom to know what to say and how to respond when others do not understand homeschooling. In the name of Your Son, Amen.