That is educational jargon for you. I just came across some brochure for some conference somewhere with that title plastered across the top, promising to make me an all-star teacher in three easy steps. Thus, my satirical tribute and utter disenchanchment with our society’s - and my own - propensity to have faith in our own effort and strategy.
God brought me to Virginia through His own creative means. And there is not a day that goes by that I don't say a little prayer of thanksgiving as I pull into the driveway to Briar Woods (especially on those 6am debate Saturdays). I couldn't have gotten there on my own - without a few miracles along the way. When God caused the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to turn upon one another and destroy each other before they even got to Judah, that was again His divine creative plan. And He did a much better job of ensuring victory than the Israelites ever could have done. God told Jehosephat to “stand still.” I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around that. Stand still? Really God? You mean I don’t have to do anything?
God is a lot more competent than we are. The sooner I understand this the better. The sooner we stop striving to control our destiny, the easier it will be to sit back and enjoy Him and the life He’s put us into.
That’s lesson number two of Type-A therapy.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Not Your Fight
I’m going to tell you about Jehosephat. (2 Chronicles 20:1-30) To be quite accurate, however, this is not Jehosephat’s story; its God’s story all around. I’m going to have to dissect this passage in a series of essays because God is uncovering convicting truths every single day.
Installment #1: An Overview from Type-A Perspective
This Scripture resonates hard because I am a stubborn, obsessive-compulsive, hyper-sensitive, and worrisome control freak. I’ve always been this way and have always accepted it as the blessing and curse that got me through high school and college with flying colors. I have a goal - I achieve it. Something needs to get done – I get it done. Before I became a teacher I was responsible for my own success alone, but that’s no longer the case. Welcome to adulthood, Mandy. My job forces me into a position of leadership from 9-4 on weekdays and on most Saturdays. I have to be watching, guiding, monitoring, coaching, and thinking at least three steps ahead of 12-30 equally selfish people at any given time.
So when God says to me, as He did to Jehosephat, “Hey, you don’t have to be in control of this!” it should come as a welcome release. But quite honestly it is not. I like feeling in control. In high school I was the kid that did the whole group project by myself because I didn’t trust anyone well enough to delegate responsibility.
I know that I can get things done well and on a respectable timetable. It’s not that God can’t – but will He get it done my way with my time table, according to my standards? Will God get an “A” at orchestrating my life? Will His plan really solve for more harms and have a greater net benefit than mine? (sorry, debate jargon) Why do I have more faith in myself than in the Creator? Why do I have more faith in my limited abilities, which are only manifested through the power of the Spirit in the first place? Of course, we all know that I make bad decisions and say the wrong thing ALL the time, but yet I’m still fighting God for control of my life.
And the resounding words that encapsulate this entire Scripture ring so true: “for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (vs15) And again, God says “You will not need to fight in this battle, position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.” (vs17) Do you KNOW how hard it is to stand still!!!! It’s harder for me to sit on the couch on a beautiful Saturday morning than to go out and run five miles. How does one learn to stand still and rely solely on the Lord?
But if Jehosephat, the leader of Judah can learn to stand still then surely we can as well. When Jehosephat learned of impending attack he responded in four ways. He feared. He sought the Lord. He proclaimed a fast. He recruited an army of worshipers to sing praise. This would have gone so much differently had he acted according to his more earthy instincts. It could read: “He feared. He drafted all the young men into the army. The young men of Judah died in a violent siege against the Ammonites.” Had he gone into battle, Jehosephat may have been successful against the Ammonites and Moabites, he may have driven them out in the end, but he never could have done it with the resounding flair that God did. We would not have seen Judah’s army looking on while the warring tribes turned upon each other and defeated themselves.
God does not always take the battle completely out of our hands. In many cases there are tasks that we must accomplish in the “fight.” The Old Testament is filled with depictions of God-ordained warfare between His people and the outsiders. In fact, the Israelites got themselves into trouble for the rest of human history because they were slackers (another idea for another day).
But Jehosephat was not a slacker. I’m convinced that Jehosephat was a type-A overachiever. God needed to teach Jehosephat how to trust. Jehosephat ultimately delighted in the spoils, but could not take the glory. The victory was unquestionably God’s.
When God says “stand still and let me fight this battle” it takes a relentless amount of self-control on my part. It’s a daily process. You wake up to fear or worry. You seek God in prayer. You rein in your mind and heart through spiritual disciplines. You play some worship music in the car and sing His praise. That’s what Jehosephat did and that’s what I’m going to do with this day. By God’s grace that’s what I’m going to do with tomorrow. Nothing less. Nothing more.
Installment #1: An Overview from Type-A Perspective
This Scripture resonates hard because I am a stubborn, obsessive-compulsive, hyper-sensitive, and worrisome control freak. I’ve always been this way and have always accepted it as the blessing and curse that got me through high school and college with flying colors. I have a goal - I achieve it. Something needs to get done – I get it done. Before I became a teacher I was responsible for my own success alone, but that’s no longer the case. Welcome to adulthood, Mandy. My job forces me into a position of leadership from 9-4 on weekdays and on most Saturdays. I have to be watching, guiding, monitoring, coaching, and thinking at least three steps ahead of 12-30 equally selfish people at any given time.
So when God says to me, as He did to Jehosephat, “Hey, you don’t have to be in control of this!” it should come as a welcome release. But quite honestly it is not. I like feeling in control. In high school I was the kid that did the whole group project by myself because I didn’t trust anyone well enough to delegate responsibility.
I know that I can get things done well and on a respectable timetable. It’s not that God can’t – but will He get it done my way with my time table, according to my standards? Will God get an “A” at orchestrating my life? Will His plan really solve for more harms and have a greater net benefit than mine? (sorry, debate jargon) Why do I have more faith in myself than in the Creator? Why do I have more faith in my limited abilities, which are only manifested through the power of the Spirit in the first place? Of course, we all know that I make bad decisions and say the wrong thing ALL the time, but yet I’m still fighting God for control of my life.
And the resounding words that encapsulate this entire Scripture ring so true: “for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (vs15) And again, God says “You will not need to fight in this battle, position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.” (vs17) Do you KNOW how hard it is to stand still!!!! It’s harder for me to sit on the couch on a beautiful Saturday morning than to go out and run five miles. How does one learn to stand still and rely solely on the Lord?
But if Jehosephat, the leader of Judah can learn to stand still then surely we can as well. When Jehosephat learned of impending attack he responded in four ways. He feared. He sought the Lord. He proclaimed a fast. He recruited an army of worshipers to sing praise. This would have gone so much differently had he acted according to his more earthy instincts. It could read: “He feared. He drafted all the young men into the army. The young men of Judah died in a violent siege against the Ammonites.” Had he gone into battle, Jehosephat may have been successful against the Ammonites and Moabites, he may have driven them out in the end, but he never could have done it with the resounding flair that God did. We would not have seen Judah’s army looking on while the warring tribes turned upon each other and defeated themselves.
God does not always take the battle completely out of our hands. In many cases there are tasks that we must accomplish in the “fight.” The Old Testament is filled with depictions of God-ordained warfare between His people and the outsiders. In fact, the Israelites got themselves into trouble for the rest of human history because they were slackers (another idea for another day).
But Jehosephat was not a slacker. I’m convinced that Jehosephat was a type-A overachiever. God needed to teach Jehosephat how to trust. Jehosephat ultimately delighted in the spoils, but could not take the glory. The victory was unquestionably God’s.
When God says “stand still and let me fight this battle” it takes a relentless amount of self-control on my part. It’s a daily process. You wake up to fear or worry. You seek God in prayer. You rein in your mind and heart through spiritual disciplines. You play some worship music in the car and sing His praise. That’s what Jehosephat did and that’s what I’m going to do with this day. By God’s grace that’s what I’m going to do with tomorrow. Nothing less. Nothing more.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
You Cannot Perm this Counterplan
Get ready. There is a cheesy debate analogy coming at you.
In debate we have a plan. The plan supports the resolution. This year our resolution is: “The U.S. Federal government should substantially increase incentives for alternative energy development in the United States.” Our plan is to implement a cap and trade policy that will reduce emissions by 20% of 1990 levels by 2020. We run this when we are affirmative.
Obviously the Negative team must not support the plan. One way to debate the Affirmative’s plan is to run a counterplan. One popular counterplan involves building up more nuclear energy plants across the country (and personally, I agree).
Debate strategy says to permute the counterplan, which means that if you are on the affirmative you need to find a way to do your plan while incorporating the neg’s counterplan. For instance, you could go ahead with tradeable permits and also concentrate on building small nuclear reactors in rural regions to take them off the strained grid (I can’t take credit for that one, just an argument I heard along the way). That way you get all of their solvency plus yours and a substantially greater net benefit.
I actually really like counterplans. My debate captain does not. I don’t really argue with my debate captain (not a good idea to argue with national qualifiers in debate) so we don’t run them. However, we encounter plenty on the Aff. My kids always come to me saying “what should we do if we get the ______ counterplan?” I always say: “Perm it. Now, let’s think of a way to do this.”
In life I’m all about having a plan. I’m type-A, I can’t help it. And if somebody has a better plan, I’ll never admit it, I’ll just find a way to do both.
I live my life as if I were in a debate round with God. I come to Him with a plan. It’s a pretty solid plan from my perspective. Did I mention that I’m type-A? I do things well. I think ahead to possible problems and consequences. I deliver a flawless list of advantages that seem to outweigh any potential negative impacts and I say, “Ok God, prove this plan wrong. Just prove it.”
And then He offers this crazy counterplan and like a good debate coach I’m left trying to perm it. “Ok God, I’ll grant you that it’s a good plan. But so is mine, so let’s do both.”
I’m learning that life is not like debate tournament. What may be good strategy in a debate round is not generally good strategy when seeking the Lord’s will. For some reason the perm isn’t working. We can’t do both His plan and mine and I’m losing the round. Maybe I’ve just got to concede to His plan – or better yet, maybe I should just forfeit this debate entirely. It’s not wise to get into a debate with your trophy-touting debate captain. It’s even more foolish to get into a debate with your sovereign Creator.
Does this make any sense? Maybe this is an obscure analogy that has to rest in the debate realm. But it kind of struck me the other day as I was listening to a couple freshmen run a hemp plan (yes, let’s grow hemp and turn it into biofuel). It actually just excited me that I can turn something as esoteric as policy debate theory into a spiritual analogy.
In closing, I shall offer up some lyrics from a song I’ve been listening to on repeat for the last few weeks:
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
-By Your Side, by Tenth Avenue North
When I listen to this song it's like God is saying, "Please Mandy, don't turn this into a debate round. You cannot perm this counterplan. Do not fight me. You are raging against the hands that are holding you up and holding you together."
In debate we have a plan. The plan supports the resolution. This year our resolution is: “The U.S. Federal government should substantially increase incentives for alternative energy development in the United States.” Our plan is to implement a cap and trade policy that will reduce emissions by 20% of 1990 levels by 2020. We run this when we are affirmative.
Obviously the Negative team must not support the plan. One way to debate the Affirmative’s plan is to run a counterplan. One popular counterplan involves building up more nuclear energy plants across the country (and personally, I agree).
Debate strategy says to permute the counterplan, which means that if you are on the affirmative you need to find a way to do your plan while incorporating the neg’s counterplan. For instance, you could go ahead with tradeable permits and also concentrate on building small nuclear reactors in rural regions to take them off the strained grid (I can’t take credit for that one, just an argument I heard along the way). That way you get all of their solvency plus yours and a substantially greater net benefit.
I actually really like counterplans. My debate captain does not. I don’t really argue with my debate captain (not a good idea to argue with national qualifiers in debate) so we don’t run them. However, we encounter plenty on the Aff. My kids always come to me saying “what should we do if we get the ______ counterplan?” I always say: “Perm it. Now, let’s think of a way to do this.”
In life I’m all about having a plan. I’m type-A, I can’t help it. And if somebody has a better plan, I’ll never admit it, I’ll just find a way to do both.
I live my life as if I were in a debate round with God. I come to Him with a plan. It’s a pretty solid plan from my perspective. Did I mention that I’m type-A? I do things well. I think ahead to possible problems and consequences. I deliver a flawless list of advantages that seem to outweigh any potential negative impacts and I say, “Ok God, prove this plan wrong. Just prove it.”
And then He offers this crazy counterplan and like a good debate coach I’m left trying to perm it. “Ok God, I’ll grant you that it’s a good plan. But so is mine, so let’s do both.”
I’m learning that life is not like debate tournament. What may be good strategy in a debate round is not generally good strategy when seeking the Lord’s will. For some reason the perm isn’t working. We can’t do both His plan and mine and I’m losing the round. Maybe I’ve just got to concede to His plan – or better yet, maybe I should just forfeit this debate entirely. It’s not wise to get into a debate with your trophy-touting debate captain. It’s even more foolish to get into a debate with your sovereign Creator.
Does this make any sense? Maybe this is an obscure analogy that has to rest in the debate realm. But it kind of struck me the other day as I was listening to a couple freshmen run a hemp plan (yes, let’s grow hemp and turn it into biofuel). It actually just excited me that I can turn something as esoteric as policy debate theory into a spiritual analogy.
In closing, I shall offer up some lyrics from a song I’ve been listening to on repeat for the last few weeks:
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
-By Your Side, by Tenth Avenue North
When I listen to this song it's like God is saying, "Please Mandy, don't turn this into a debate round. You cannot perm this counterplan. Do not fight me. You are raging against the hands that are holding you up and holding you together."
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