Forgiveness and Field Trips

     There are many things that stress me out (just ask my husband), but one that is at the top of the list is taking my group of students on a field trip.  The students are hyped and excited to get out of the building.  Their voices are louder, their steps faster, their laughter more contagious and sometimes their decisions poorer.  For example, I once had a model student dial 911 from a McDonald’s payphone.  Unfortunately, at the same time strangers are studying their behavior and passing judgments on the kids, school, district and of course yours truly.  Throughout the year I spend countless hours teaching them my expectations and modeling appropriate behavior.  I have strict rules in the classroom, but I also let them know how much I love them.  Once I have built a strong relationship with them, it is easier to discipline.  For the most part, they want to please me and when they don’t succeed they feel bad.  Field trips, however, can bring out the worst in even the best kids.

     I think this is a lot like our relationship with God.  He has given us His expectations, and reached out His hand to us in a loving relationship.  He went the ultimate distance and sacrificed everything on the cross to show us His love and forgiveness.  Yet we still continue to make poor choices that disappoint Him.  It reminds me of what Paul wrote in Romans 7:15-24.  I can totally relate when he says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  I feel like that all the time.  How many times can I ask the Lord to forgive me for the same sin?!  Luckily the Bible answers that in Matthew 18:21-22.  When asked how many times a person should be forgiven when they sin against another, Jesus answered, not seven times, but seventy times seven.  Scholars believe the number four hundred ninety represents infinity.

     This raises two thoughts in my mind.  First, am I willing to forgive my students when they misbehave as many times as the Lord forgives me?  Do I do it as graciously and lovingly?  Do I forgive all people in my life including friends, family and coworkers?  Second, do I fight temptation in my life as hard as I want my kids to fight it on a field trip?  Am I being an example of what a Christian should be, or am I allowing people to pass negative judgments about Christians based on my behavior?

     That’s a scary thought, and I have A TON of work to do in this area!  I desperately need help everyday to meet this tall order.  Thankfully we serve a God who knows us better than we know ourselves.  And He is there to strengthen and forgive every moment of everyday, if we only ask Him.