Hope for When Homeschooling Feels More Like Walking Blindfolded Than by Faith

Deborah Wuehler The Old Schoolhouse
Updated Sep 27, 2018

At the beginning of each school year, I look ahead and am easily intimidated by my inability to make the year (and my children) successful. I can’t see what’s ahead, and I wonder about the outcome of their education. Will I be able to prepare my children for their future, whatever that might be? I am homeschooling blindfolded. Though it may feel like and look like blind faith, I really have faith with substance behind it—our Creator Himself.

Obediently walking by faith means we trust God even when we don’t see the end result. We not only don’t get to see the end result, we don’t even get to see tomorrow. We might not like it if we saw it. It doesn’t matter. Obedience by faith today matters. Homeschooling is just one way in which we walk by faith.

In the hall of faith in Hebrews 11, we see that these Biblical heroes walked forward in obedience no matter what they saw with their eyes. The circumstances didn’t dictate their faith. Some were given promises, and some did not get to see the promise fulfilled in their lifetimes. But their faith wasn’t in the promise, but the One who gave it. He is the substance of what we hope for, and He is the evidence of what we have not seen.

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I’d like to be listed in that hall of faith like this:

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
By faith Deborah homeschooled her children and trained them in righteousness, in obedience to God’s command, and trusting God’s wisdom.

Homeschooling blindfolded may mean that we don’t know exactly where we are going, but judging Him faithful Who promised, and being unafraid of the rulers of this world. Homeschooling blindfolded means we are trusting God’s leadership.

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"Christ is my Exceeding Great Reward."

You know when someone has a special surprise for you and they tell you to close your eyes as they lead you to it? That is how I feel about homeschooling sometimes. I can’t see ahead, but I can trust that God is leading me to something wonderful as I follow Him.

Whether I see the end result as something I would desire or not, I will obey. I will trust that, though I see no reward this side of heaven, Christ is my Exceeding Great Reward. To be pleasing to God, we must have faith, trust in, rely on, and believe fully in Jesus Christ.

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

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"...whatever is not done in faith returns useless and void."

Want your children to be rewarded? Teach them to seek God diligently. I have learned in my own homeschooling journey that whatever is not done in faith returns useless and void. I want it to be said of our family that we sought God diligently and that we didn’t lose faith, rather:

"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens" (Hebrews 11:33-34).

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Seeing Eyes

We may be blind to the future, but our eyes should always be looking at Christ. We can take the blinders off and behold Him! He is trustworthy, and we can put all our hope in Him. We do not have to worry about tomorrow, because God is already there.

If you are just beginning this homeschool journey, or have been on this journey many years, or maybe you are at a crossroads and don’t know what to do, the answer is always: look up. Look at Him. When this Old Testament king was being attacked by a large army, he prayed a prayer that I use often. He said:

"We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee" (2 Chronicles 20:12).

Even after all these years of homeschooling, I still pray constantly, "God, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You." I can attest that God hears this prayer.

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Sowing in Faith

I often wonder about the harvest that will come from my children’s lives. I always wonder what they are going to grow up and be or do. I wonder if they are going to follow the Lord or their own desires. I wonder just what kind of fruit they will bear. But it is not always for me to know. My job is to sow the seeds now that will bear good fruit later.

I have only a few years to sow, so I must sow the right kind of seed for their success. Every word, every response, every attitude I show them is a seed sown. If that is the case, my seeds just may bear bad fruit. So, what I need to sow is the Word of God, the principles of God, and the heart of God. This is seed that will always bear good fruit.

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Fruitful or Fig Tree?

Will their lives be full and beautiful and Godly, or will they end up like the fig tree that Jesus cursed when there was nothing of value to Him. We desire that our children will produce good fruit, but we have to remember that today’s sowing holds the key to the fruit they will produce tomorrow and even years from tomorrow. They will produce nothing of value if we do not prepare the soil and daily sow God’s Word in their hearts.

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Psalm 1:2, 3).

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Sowing Intentionally

I must be intentional in the things I desire for these children to learn. And, if I am not intentional, if I don’t deliberately plan to soak them in the water of the Word, the seed may shrivel and die. If I don’t make time to pour into them today, I may lose these golden moments, these few years, this season of planting.

"The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing" (Proverbs 20:4).

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"What about you? Are you taking in the seed of God’s Word..."

I want to make knowing Christ the priority of each day. I don’t want to allow the lesser things to always take preeminence. In doing this, I am teaching my children the same. What about you? Are you taking in the seed of God’s Word so that what you are sowing will be fruitful?

I have prayed for a passion for Christ to make itself evident in my children. I don’t always see it. But, I know they are being changed inwardly by the Word of God that is being sown. I am sowing, and I am homeschooling blindfolded. But I trust that the minds of these children are being transformed by what is sown.

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"...God’s Word that is sown is doing its work..."

Just as we watch butterflies emerge from their chrysalis, knowing an incredible metamorphosis happened on the inside that we could not see, we also know that God’s Word that is sown is doing its work in the hearts and minds of His children as we, in faith, keep them Home Where They Belong.

Deborah Wuehler is Senior Editor for TOS, wife to Richard, with eight children ages 27 to 10. She writes for The Homeschool Minute, is on YouTube with: Schoolhouse Devotions, pointing homeschool families to Christ as they keep their children Home Where They Belong!

Copyright 2018, The Old Schoolhouse^®. Used with permission. All rights reserved by the Author. Originally appeared in the Fall 2018 issue of The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine, the trade publication for homeschool moms. Read The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com, or download the free reader apps at www.TOSApps.com for mobile devices. Read the STORY of The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine and how it came to be.

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