God and Math

I am not an expert in Math. In fact, I shied away from most Math problems as best as I could when I was

in school. Now, as a homeschooling mother, they are all staring me in my face--from number recognition

all the way up to Pre-calculus, numbers are everywhere!! I'm so glad I have the teacher's manuals. In all

honesty, teaching my children math hasn't been a breeze, but it has been a delight, and I'll tell you why:

God is there, too!

So often, it is easy to see all the other subjects so clearly in the Bible; there's language, history, poetry,

science, music and geography, just to name a few. As Christian homeschoolers, it's easy to teach these

subjects with a Biblical worldview. But somehow, when it comes to math it gets pretty quiet on the

worldview point, and we scratch our heads and say, "Math is neutral, right?"

Wrong!

Our God is Lord of all, and that includes Math! While this list is not exhaustive, here are a few brief points

to consider:

Math mirrors God's character.
Math is consistent, transcending time and culture. No matter when or where, 1 plus 1 will
always equal 2. God is the same every day, for all time and is not bound by anything.

Numbers go on and on, to infinite amounts that we don't even have words for, neither can
we comprehend. Our God is eternal and limitless and we can barely grasp that truth: He has and

will exist forever.

Weights, measurements and genealogy lists (in chronological order) display the accuracy
and precision of our great God, preserving great records and accounts for us to this day.

Numbers have Biblical significance.
Various numbers hold special meaning: 3 for the Trinity, 7 for completion (as in 6 days of
creation + 1 day when God rested), or 8 as a new beginning.

Numerical patterns: 40 days/nights of rain (Noah)--40 years in the wilderness
(Israelites)--40 days/nights fasting before temptation (Jesus); 3 days in the belly of the great fish
(Jonah)--3 days dead before resurrection (Jesus), 12 tribes of Israel--12 disciples of Jesus, etc.

These lists barely scratch the surface of this topic, but they suggest a very logical orderly God in

mathematical/numerical form. I like to point these things out to my children as we come across them to

encourage them to see God everywhere. Yes, God is in Math, too!

And mothers, may we not forget that God can meet us anywhere, even in the midst of teaching those

difficult, complex equations or navigating stinky attitudes toward Math--call out to Him right then and

there. Pray and ask Him for wisdom and help. All we do can be done to the glory of God!

How do you welcome God into your Math class? In what ways do you see Him in there?

Also posted at Our Homeschool Forum.