Trusting in God's Provision
It was a long and quiet day of waiting. The day started at about 4:45 a.m. and my call was set for 4:30 p.m. I did my usual routine of scripture reading, prayer, writing, and exercise before I left for the office. The outcome of the late afternoon meeting was critical to the mission God gave me in leading a Christian university.
Some people see being a university president as a significant accomplishment. And I suppose it is if it is a job you desire or planned for at some point. I mean no disrespect to my peers and friends who serve many fine institutions, but I never wanted to be a college president. I do this job for one reason; God gave me this assignment. It is an act of obedience.
If you haven't noticed, higher education is under significant stress as an industry. Many inside and outside the higher education sector question the value of a college degree. I will be the first to admit that not everyone needs a college degree. There are many jobs that require skills that colleges don’t teach.
Some of us who work in higher education are increasingly concerned about the loss of intellectual capital we are accumulating as fewer and fewer individuals choose to go to college. While there has been significant pressure from both government and businesses for colleges and universities to start teaching work skills, what we often forget is that a college education teaches other critically important things.
Our current downturn in the value of higher education will lead to the loss of the development critical thinking skills, social skills, written and oral communication skills. As the president of a Christian university, I am increasingly concerned about the deficit of education around moral and ethical thinking and behavior. Christian universities provide a place where one’s education is grounded in an understanding of who Jesus is and what he did on the cross to redeem and restore individuals and all creation. This is essential in developing the whole person.
In recent years the downgrade of the value of education has hit the Christian higher education sector especially hard. Seeing increased closures of Christian universities is not just sad, it is frightening because of the important role these institutions play in the development of both the mind and the soul of men and women who will lead churches, businesses, raise families, and lead communities.
This week I spoke with three other Christian university presidents. During our conversation we each shared the financial challenges of our institution. All four of us were 45 days away from our fiscal year end, which means all four were on the trail of trying to find the financial resources needed to get through the lean summer season and have adequate cash to move confidently into the next school year. All four of us have growing enrollments and our institutions have anchoring roles in the cities and towns where we are located. And all four institutions were facing significant financial requirements in order to thrive.
As I prepared for my late afternoon call, I prayed as I do every day for wisdom, courage, clarity, financial provision, and a full measure of faith, that I might remain obedient to what God has called me to do. The last thing I did before my call was to read and to pray Psalm 20.
Many scholars believe David wrote and prayed this psalm ahead of going into battle. Some scholars think this psalm was later used whenever kings went into battle in ancient Israel. The psalm contains a powerful reminder that many trust in human power and wealth to win battles and lead whatever they have been called to lead. And then the declaration: “But we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.” The psalmist then declared that those who trust in their own power and resources will fall, but those who trust in God will rise.
My Zoom call went on for over an hour. I answered lots of questions. Some I knew the answers to, and some required me to do more thinking and have another Zoom call at six that evening to continue the conversation about our needs. Somewhere about 6:20 p.m. the person on the screen said, “Send me wiring instructions, and I will provide the funds you need in this season.”
Gratitude and relief overwhelmed me, and I found myself not knowing exactly what to say other than thank you. But then the person on the screen said that in recent weeks God had been pressing into his mind that he was to help someone with a seven-figure gift. He then said that that day or the next day I had called and asked for a meeting.
As the conversation continued, it was clear that well before our scheduled call God was working on each of us to simply be obedient to the things he asks of us. I suspect we both have an increased confidence that God requires obedience and the result of our obedience is God’s blessing.
In the last verse of Psalm 20, King David prays, “O Lord, save the king! May he answer us when we call.”
About three or four months ago, I began to pray for every Christian university president. I know many of them but certainly not all. I know some desired to lead their respective universities, and others like me came to their assignment reluctantly. But every president I know admits that God has called them to their assignment. Every Christian university president I know believes that they are in a battle, not only for the sake of their institution, but for our culture.
I will continue to pray for my brothers and sisters who lead our Christian colleges and universities and ask that you join me. Our success will not come from worldly power or wealth. Our confidence is in the Lord. I have one more prayer request. Pray that Christians who have financial resources deploy them not to the colleges that have the biggest stadiums and produce championship teams. Let the world take care of those. I pray that Christians step in and allow God to use the resources he gave them to build up and expand Christ-centered universities that we might do the vital work of providing education that includes the moral and spiritual foundations for our students and for our world.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 20:1-9 ESV
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-hands-on-holy-bible-267559/
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