"Do not be afraid, only believe"
By Josephine Lim Weston
For the past almost three months we have been homeschooling our son Jean-Luc due to self isolation and lockdown imposed because of the pandemic. During this time we have seen how much Jean-Luc has improved on his writing, spelling and reading, not to mention he's also top in his class and year group in maths and reading ahead of his peers. His teachers thus far had only offered an improvement comment only once throughout this period while the rest of the time just said how hard he has been working and his work looked good. His teacher even told me on the phone that Jean-Luc was doing very well in his home learning and top of his class in homework "dojo" points. But at the beginning of this year (in January) they started announcing worker of the week, and every single week, no matter how well Jean-Luc did his homework, his teachers would not award him worker of the week.
Honestly, Jean-Luc has been consistently doing his homework to the best of ability regardless whether there's an award or not. So week after week he consistently finished every single piece of homework and challenge given to him by his teachers to the highest standard without fail but still week after week the award went to other children. So I was curious and I knew something was amiss so I asked the teacher about it and got to know that yes even though Jean-Luc worked very hard for his homework but they didn't give him the award because they weren't happy with his behaviour during the first Google classroom meet (beginning of February). What happened was Jean-Luc was scared when he had a peek on the computer screen seeing so many faces staring at him and only after much persuasion he decided to eventually sit down to join the google classroom meet but was still scared to look at the screen. Before the meet ended he was one of the last to leave the meeting and said goodbye to his teachers as he actually missed his teachers and classmates. Ever since then he has improved but still shy and tongue-tied during Google classroom meet so his teachers award other children who can speak clearly and confidently or at least stare at the screen during the meet. Jean-Luc has been sidelined even though we were the last to leave the meet as he enjoyed talking and showing his teachers his work and toys when all his classmates had left the meeting.
After many correspondences with his teachers, lead teachers and deputy head teacher and finally receiving an email from his school headteacher who failed to recognise my son's nerves (but expected a four-year-old boy to be able to overcome his fear and nerves in front of his teachers and classmates and speak clearly and confidently during google classroom meet) they all seemed like hitting the wall every single time. Regardless of how his teachers treated him, Jean-Luc was oblivious to this and continued to work hard everyday and gave his very best to his homework. We have actually looked into moving Jean-Luc out from his present school to another school where a child's happiness is being upheld instead of achievement-oriented. Less than two weeks before homeschooling ended, that particular weekend, there was no mention of worker of the week so last week was the final week of homeschooling before school reopens and on that Thursday night God prompted my heart to declare grace grace on Jean-Luc, his teachers, deputy head teacher and head teacher. Pray that God bless them and their family and grace grace on their relationship with my son too regardless how I feel toward them. I obeyed God and prayed blessings on them and repentance of their heart and mind. On Friday, 5th March before we could submit Jean-Luc's homework that day online for his teachers and in fact he was still finishing the last piece of homework drawing and labeling a map, I heard my husband rushed out from his study upstairs and said, "His teacher had just announced - Jean-Luc is the worker of the week". I was relieved, and thank God that his teachers finally recognised Jean-Luc's work and he's the homelearning closing ceremony worker of the week "for his consistent effort in his home learning" according to his teacher.
Zechariah 4
6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies. 7 ‘What are you, you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”
Since that Thursday night I have also been declaring grace grace on every prayer request I brought before the Lord. We can declare grace grace on our job situation, house situation, financial situation, health situation, relationship situation, political unrest situation, etc. Whatever the size of your mountain(s) you are facing right now declare "grace grace" to it and see the deliverance of our Lord. When a problem comes, don't speak negatively toward it or curse the situation before the outcome or decision has been made, instead speak "Grace grace" upon the problem at hand and see the deliverance of our Lord. When we do not know what more to pray or how else to pray for a particular situation then just say “Grace grace”.
Mark 5
35 While He was still speaking, people *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher further?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, only believe.”
If you or your loved ones are being mistreated either in school or at work or anywhere, pray a prayer of blessing and declare grace grace for that person(s) and the family, grace grace upon both of your relationship. You will see that as you pray, heart transformation begins within you and God will do only what He can in the heart of the other person. The more severe the persecution you are facing the more you pray for that person and you'll see God works His wonders in your situation in due time.
Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
So are you a good soil? After reading this are you still troubled and worried or you choose not to be afraid anymore but to trust in the Lord in His word and bear fruit, thirty, sixty and a hundred times as much?
Mark 4
2 And He (Jesus) was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables.
14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”
When my heart was burdened with how Jean-Luc was treated by his teachers initially just because he was scared and all his hard work being ignored, I felt so unfair and questioned where is justice and why is my son being treated like that as I always believe that we should treat others how we want ourselves to be treated. I have always encouraged and paid more attention to those children who were being looked down or behind in their learning or behaviour were not altogether, etc when I was a Sunday school teacher and youth leader. I was very disappointed by it all and asked the Lord, “Why?” He prompted my heart and made me realised that through this experience we will understand and able to intercede for other children who have been unjustly and unfairly treated by the educational system and pray for them and the teachers. We are to pray for people in our lives and people in our loved ones life and not just our own family. Pray and bless our children’s teachers and schoolmates, our own colleagues and company we’re working in, our spouse’s colleagues and company as a whole, our church and leadership, our government and people in authority regardless of how we are being treated because the more we pray and bless them we will see transformation taking place, first it starts with us then in due time we’ll witness only what God can do with them.
Grace Grace to us all!
