Over the holidays I hope you had time to reflect on the goodness of God during the Easter weekend at least.
I found myself binge watching a series called The Chosen. It is an interpretation of the calling of Jesus’ disciples. It is one of the best series I have watched in a long time.
The first season brings to life the early stages of Jesus’ ministry and what it would have looked, felt and sounded like for the first few disciples, and their surrounding society, as they began to encounter Jesus for the first time. There is a palpable sense of uncertainty, excitement, curiosity, wonder and fear.
One phrase kept catching my attention. Many times, the new disciples would worry about how they were going to achieve something, go somewhere or speak to someone, but the response that kept coming from one follower in particular was, ‘The Master knows’.
Whilst it did not solve anything, the response constantly brought peace in the midst of the uncertainty of the struggle.
Pastor and Educator Rod Thompson speaks on this idea of uncertainty and struggle. He argues that struggle is something that we must learn to embrace as a part of life, suggesting it has the power to form and refine who we are, spiritually and within our character.
When discussing the life of Joseph (Genesis 37 - 50) he highlights how God used the events to not only save the people but to bless them and in doing so, showed how good God was. It is no different in the life of Jesus we see in the Easter story as God used the circumstances to rescue the people and again, show His love for us. The main difference being that in this story, it is God himself enduring the relentless injustice and struggle.
Rod Thompson argues that to endure the struggle we must surround ourselves with people who will help us through the struggle and to embrace the struggle, not those who are struggle avoiders or struggle solvers as this only serves to increase our sense of tension and frustration, rather than to allow it to form the good and God in us.
It is my prayer that, as educators and parents of the next generation, through rigorous education, opportunity and significant support we can enable our students to go through their struggles and not rescue them when it is ‘hard’. It is so important to remind our children that the ‘Master knows’ and encouraging this faith is critical to building their hope.
When we can do this, be struggle embracers in our children’s and friend’s lives, we will provide our students with the foundations necessary to thrive and take hold of every opportunity that comes their way; the difficult and the easy.
I hope you will enjoy all that this term has to offer. It is full of so many opportunities, from soccer and netball gala days to culture presentations and primary and secondary camps. It should be amazing.
I also encourage you to continue to partner with us and attend the parent – teacher afternoons next week to share about your child’s progress. It is at these meetings we continue to gain insights into and provide for your students. If you cannot make these times, please contact us and we will make a different time.
The Master knows…
Jonno
