Homeschooling is a different education choice, and you know what? That’s absolutely fine! Sometimes, God calls us to do things that are out of the ordinary because he’s an extraordinary God! We can take a look at scripture and find many people who did things outside of the “norm”. One of those people is Daniel and he knew exactly what it felt like to live in a society where the people lived differently than the way he chose to live in an effort to honor God.
“5 The king assigned a daily ration for them from his finest food and from the wine which he drank. They were to be educated and nourished this way for three years so that at the end of that time they were [prepared] to enter the king’s service…8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile (taint, dishonor) himself with the king’s finest food or with the wine which the king drank; so he asked the commander of the officials that he might [be excused so that he would] not defile himself.” Daniel 1:5, 8
Daniel asked for a different diet because he was an Israelite and God had instructed Israelites to only eat certain foods. Wow! How brave is that?! To go against what the king mandated? We’re talking about the same king who later threw Daniel into the fiery furnace! So this guy wasn’t all that pleasant or easy going! Another vital piece to note is that Daniel surrounded himself with friends who would take the same stand with him.
“6 Among them...were...Daniel …, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 11 But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego], 12 “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” 16 So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.” Daniel 1:6, 11-13, 16
Obeying God is for our benefit and causes His favor and promises to manifest in our lives. Daniel and his friends experienced this first-hand too!
9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials, 14 He agreed with them about this and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. 17 God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind. 19 The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego]…20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them ten times better than all…in his entire kingdom. Daniel 1:9, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20
So you’re probably wondering, what does Daniel, a Daniel Fast, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have to do with homeschooling?! Well a whole lot! We can make several parallels between Daniel’s lifestyle and the homeschool lifestyle:
#1: Homeschooling is countercultural, like Daniel’s choice of diet. There wasn’t anything necessarily bad about the King’s food choice, it just wasn’t something that Daniel wanted to eat and it went against what God asked. Just like there isn’t anything necessarily bad about people choosing to send their children to public or private school. Those are education options just like homeschooling. People may raise eyebrows and question your efforts and choice to homeschool. Some days you may even do the very same thing to yourself. But if God has touched your heart about homeschooling and asked you to do it, that’s greater and more important than your feelings or the opinion of others.
#2. Surround yourself with supportive friends and family, like Daniel did. It’s a challenge to do this homeschool journey alone but it’s much easier when you have people stand with you, just like Daniel had. Ask your friends and family to help you with childcare or household responsibilities and errands. Also, you can find a local homeschool group, co-op or umbrella to support you. Community and support means everything!
#3. God will grace you for this, just like He did for Daniel! Isaiah 58:11 encourages us in the fact that “where God guides, He will provide.” Trust His leading and He WILL take care of the rest!
#4. Your children will be the GREATEST beneficiary of your sacrificial decision to homeschool. With homeschooling, you have the opportunity to filter them from things that could defile and distract them from who God has purposed them to be. Like Daniel stepped “out of the box” for God and reaped tremendous blessings, favor and accolades, the same can happen for your children and family.
