All is His: Trusting God's Sovereignty in Homeschooling
By Cheryl Swope, M.Ed
Homeschooling can be challenging. Parenting itself is a struggle, as we and our children wrestle daily to do what is good and right. Adding homeschooling to the mix often feels like piling more weight onto our already burdened shoulders. Our own shortcomings, the relentless temptations of the world, and spiritual attacks can make our purpose feel fragile and our efforts fruitless.
Yet, as redeemed children of Christ, we bring our children to the waters of baptism and choose to educate them at home, nurturing them to become thoughtful, service-minded, academically strong, and eternally secure in Christ Jesus. Looking back now that my children are young adults, I realize one simple truth that could have made this journey less daunting: All is His.
Doubts
In our family's homeschool journey, from infancy through high school, some days were smooth and even idyllic, but many days were filled with doubt. My mind often echoed with concerns:
"Am I hindering my child?"
"Is there a better way to teach this?"
"Are my children picking up my bad habits? My husband's?"
"How will I guide my son to become the adult I envision?"
"How will I meet my daughter’s needs and still teach her effectively?"
"How do I fulfill my other vocations as daughter, friend, neighbor, worker, and congregation member?"
"Am I ever doing enough? How do I know?"
What I wish I had known is captured in this simple reminder: All is His.
Luther writes, "All things that have being—obviously also all of our wisdom and abilities—derive not from themselves, but they both have their beginning from Him, are preserved through Him, and must continue in Him" (LW 78:15). As Paul says in Acts 17:28, "In Him we live and move and have our being."
What does this mean? Nothing happens by chance or accident. Everything comes from and through His divine counsel and good pleasure. He cares for us as His people and sheep; He rules us, gives us good things, helps us in danger, and preserves us (LW 78:15). I taught this to my children, yet I did not always grasp this truth for myself.
Mysteries
The mysteries of God offer comfort to the believer, and His Word, from Genesis to Revelation, reveals His power, which is far beyond our own. More than omnipotence alone, it is the very mercy of God, through the person and work of Christ Jesus, that sustains us. By the working of the Holy Spirit, we believe. He holds all things together. This is a comfort to me, which is why I've been meditating on Colossians 1:17: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
We may worry excessively or think we accomplish much on our own, "yet for us, there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist" (1 Corinthians 8:6).
If this knowledge seems too abstract for everyday life, Martin Luther explains these great mysteries in small details:
"Who can ever learn or explain how it happens that a leaf grows out of a tree, or a grain becomes a root, or through wood and kernel, a cherry grows from a blossom?" (LW 78:16).
Similarly, in the Small Catechism's explanation of the First Article, God "has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have" (emphasis added).
Luther, a master of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric, was a proponent of what we now call Christian classical education. He skillfully uses details and the word all to underscore the certainty of God's promises.
Luther continues his First Article explanation by saying, "He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil" (emphasis added). This is a vital reminder as we instruct our children.
All Is His
He does all of this. He has given; He also gives. He richly and daily provides; He defends. (I do not do this. We do not do this. He does this.) And He does this because He loves us in Christ and because He is good. "All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me" (Small Catechism, First Article).
In those doubt-filled and prideful moments when we rely on our abilities, we only make things worse. We feed our doubts and nurture our pride. However, when we pray and commend our children, their education, lives, and all things to His care, we can trust that He gives us all we need. He already has given us all we need in Christ, and He will continue to do so.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
As we confess our lack of trust, fear, and pride, we find forgiveness in Christ. Jesus died for even this. On earth, Jesus alone trusted God in all His ways and always prayed, "Thy will be done." Just as our Savior comes to our children, He also comes to us. He prays for us even now. All is His, given to us.
We can see this clearly when we confess the Apostles' Creed. While theologians today may debate the Third Article of sanctification, our pastors faithfully bring to us, through Word, water, bread, and cup, the Gospel of Christ as confessed in the Second Article of redemption. As loved, forgiven, redeemed, and daily cared-for parents, we can reclaim the proclamation of the First Article promises of creation.
"He causes all created things to serve the uses and necessities of life. These include the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens, day and night, air, fire, water, earth, and whatever it bears and produces. . . . So we learn from this article that none of us owns for himself, nor can preserve, his life nor anything that is here listed or can be listed. This is true no matter how small and unimportant a thing it might be" (LC II 14, 16).
He gives all. So even today, as we teach, raise, and love our children, we remember, know, and trust this truth: All is His.
