Augustine made a great statement about the dichotomy between God's sovereignty & man's responsibility, in the form of a prayer:
Command what Thou will, and grant what Thou commandest.
Paul said it another way:
It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work according to His good pleasure.
In a very small, but very scary way, professors & teachers imitate God in this way. We set up the requirements for a course---never entirely on our own authority, but usually with a lot more freedom than we recognize---and our preparation of our students is a necessary requisite for their success in meeting those requirements.
It makes me appreciate how perfectly God fits together His particular requirements of my life and His preparation of me to meet those requirements. He always sets me up for success, which makes it even more hurtful to me & others when I don't live out that success.
Are we setting up our students (or employees, or children) for success? Are we spelling out our requirements clearly? Are we providing them with the tools & time they need to meet those requirements? If we're not, what does that say (to us and to them) about our view of God? If we were to set them up for success, how might that set us apart from our colleagues, and give our students a glimpse of the gospel?
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