Week Three Seamless Bible Study Reflections:

During my time in the bible study this week I noticed the amount of patience God showed in the disobedience and delay of his chosen leaders. It reminded me of a simple change I made to my syllabus which turned into a mental wrestling match with myself. The first time I wrote the word “grace” into my syllabus, I erased it and rewrote it over and over again. I cycled between bravery, fear, and paralysis. The word carries such goodness for my life, I felt it with each letter typed. I would move forward, on to my next task, but I would circle back and revisit those five letters. Grace. 

I didn’t want to use the word lightly, but I knew there we something to those five letters being necessary for a successful classroom. Grace for my mistakes, grace for their mistakes, upon grace, upon grace. But I stopped short of confidence, tripping over my doubt. Could this five letter word be too much? I genuinely processed the possibility the word could get me fired. In this time and space, it doesn’t seem too far off. It feels dramatic to frame my classroom as a Promised Land, but ‘regardless of my circumstance or perceived ability’ it seems to be the land I’ve been promised. And if that’s true, grace is just the right word. 

I saw a difference in my classroom immediately and each semester since (although knuckleheads still totally exist). As we review the syllabus, we talk about what grace means by definition and to them personally. The conversations don’t go into a deep dive of spiritual awakening, but I do sense a stir in the atmosphere – walls dropped, chains broken. 

I almost missed these moments because I feared consequences instead of resting in the character of God. God worked in my hesitations and processing. I felt the weight of consequences for disobedience. That is the graciousness of God – giving life when we deserve death and he allows suffering because of his desire to see us become more like him. 

Comment below – can you look back and see a time when you’ve not fully trusted in the character of God?

Seamless Week 3 Bullet Points

• Moses was from the tribe of Levi, Levites were the priesthood of the nation of Israel. 
• The second time we see a Hebrew become part of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s family. Joseph and Moses.
• The burning bush – God tells Moses that he has better plans for His people 
• The plagues – the Egyptians worshiped many “nature-gods” so the plagues were specific to the culture.
• Passover: take a lamb, use blood on door post, passed over/protected 
• Moses wins over water three times: as a baby to be thrown out, placed in the water, and again with the Red Sea.
• The veil – super important to remember – because people sin thy cannot stand before a holy God. 
• God said they would wander for 400 years, and they did.
• The promised land was theirs because God promised it, not something they did.
• Moses burial is unknown because God laid him to rest
• Rahab is a prostitute who trusts God and lets spies hide at her house in trade for protection. Rehab later gives birth to Boaz. This is the lineage of Jesus.
• Joshua and Caleb trusted the word of God, here others did not. 
• God gave specific instructions to protect his people – they decided God didn’t really mean what he said. God raises up judges to keep people inline but it doesn’t really work. There were 12 judges, not the same as the tribes.

Follow us on Pinterest!