Some days those math lessons pose quite a challenge. Other days the technology doesn't cooperate and every lesson is a challenge.
But one day this week I read the lesson plan. I knew the curriculum. And the good old fashioned T.V. with built in DVD player was no match for my technological wits!
"I can do this!" I thought to myself.
It was a 6th grade class, the curriculum was Ancient Egypt and the DVD was about Moses. I knew Moses' story and I knew how God used him to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. . . .and I got to teach that. . . .in the public school!
I showed the movie The Prince of Egypt and together we worked through the first 8 questions. They were basic questions such as: How is the baby saved? What does Moses do that shocks his fellow Egyptians? Describe the people that save Moses.
By the time we got to question #9 Moses was experiencing an identity crisis. He was raised an Egyptian prince but born an Israelite. When Moses witnessed a Israelite slave being treated unjustly by an Egyptian, he killed the unjust man. Moses lost favor with the Egyptians through the murder, and because of his Egyptian upbringing, he was already despised by the Israelites. Upon losing a sense of belonging to any peoples, he fled!
He fled to a dry and desolate land, entering a dry and desolate season of life.
It was during this dry and desolate time that Moses found a sense belonging. In the movie his father-in-law sings the song "Through Heaven's Eyes" to Moses. Below is a visually beautiful version of the same song from the movie that I thought I would share.
Let us pause right here (I literally paused the DVD). Let's talk through this question. Let's understand the message together.
With the kids I simply explained that Moses was an Israelite. He was one of God's chosen people. What mattered now was how God saw Moses, as one of His own! Moses needed a perspective change, to look at his life through heaven's eyes.
During those dry and desolate seasons we often need to look at our life through heaven's eyes. Through Christ, we too are God's chosen ones.
Last year I went through one of those dry and desolate times. During that time I took a blank journal and on each page I wrote a promise from scripture. I had reminder after reminder of God's promises for my life and who He said I was. One scripture I held on to was Psalm 1:3 "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither. Whatever he does prospers."
Another one was Romans 8:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
During the burning bush scene God tells Moses he is sending him back to Egypt to free the Israelites. Moses says in Exodus 3: 11 "Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
God did not give Moses an immediate answer. One night I too cried out to the Lord and asked, "Who am I?" I didn't get an immediate answer either. But it was the beginning of my journey to looking at my life through heaven's eyes.
In the end I hope to be called a friend of God like Moses was.
My favorite line in this song is "and though you never know all the steps you must learn to join the dance" because it takes trust, and faith and courage to step in not knowing exactly where the steps will take you.
At this point in your journey, who does God say you are? I would love to hear what scriptures God is speaking to your heart.
Blessings!