One of our senior students, Sam Excell, shared a challenging devotion this week in our virtual assembly.
He started with an anecdote about training elephants from infancy by chaining one of their legs to a post. As the elephant grows older it stops straining against the chain believing it can’t move freely. Sam then spoke about learned helplessness and moved to the spiritual lesson.
‘In our own lives, we can experience learned helplessness. We may feel that an obstacle is too tough, too big and too difficult, we can begin to feel that we don’t have control, that we can’t overcome it because we simply aren’t good enough, or strong enough. It’s as if we have been trapped without any hope of rescue….
[But] here’s the thing, when we have God on our side, learned helplessness is just a term not a lifestyle. It’s a term to describe that we need God, not that we are trapped. A term to say that we can’t do this alone, to call on God.’ (Sam’s devotion)
“It’s a great privilege to be involved in educating young people. It is also a responsibility that we do not take lightly. ”
These are wise words from a young man who has learned to trust God, and this is exciting to me. It’s a great privilege to be involved in educating young people. It is also a responsibility that we do not take lightly.
How do we help them to make sense of a world that is so full of violence, tragedy, brokenness? How do we train them to be godly young men and women when the media makes sin look so attractive? How do we explain the apparent ineffectual faith of Christians? How do we encourage them to be seekers of truth?
Perhaps we may feel at times that we are grown elephants who have learned helplessness but I am encouraged by Sam. He is growing in his understanding of God’s powerful love and though he, like many of us, may grieve about the brokenness and suffering in the world, he is strong in the sure hope we have in Christ.
At Calvin, we work hard to present our Christian worldview in our teaching, and this is not always easy. We read in God’s Word that truth is suppressed and that ‘His attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so that [people] are without excuse …’ (Romans 1:18-20). Although our worldview is infused in our curriculum, we compete with the secular worldview that is presented everywhere and especially through the media. I want to exhort you to pray for us and we will pray for you as we share the task of bringing up young people to know their Maker and to understand the world they share through His Word and the revelation He wants to give all who seek Him.
So go Sam and the rest of you, our students, who are bold in sharing your faith! Our God delights in you!
Ineke Laning – Acting Principal