As schools are reopening around the country, it’s important that we take a moment and pray for the teachers who are overseeing the instruction of the children we love. If you’re one of those teachers, we thank you. Your commitment to educating children while providing them with a nurturing, caring environment deserves more applause than we will ever be able to convey. Even though the school year is just getting started, you may find yourself needing some encouragement. If so, keep reading!
Being a teacher is one of the most generous, caring roles that anyone can undertake. Not only are teachers some of the most under-appreciated professionals in our nation, they’re also some of the most overworked. Although the school year is just getting started, you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed by overfilled classes, demanding parents, administrative requirements, and everything else that comes with being an educator. If so, take a moment today and let yourself be encouraged. You are in the position that you’re in because God has placed you there. The impact that you can have on the children that you teach cannot be overstated.
While it may not be permissible for you to openly share your faith with the children you’re teaching, your position as a teacher is still a position of ministry. No, you may not have a pulpit positioned at the front of your class, and you may not be able to read Scripture to your class, but God has put you in a position to show the kids in your class His heart.
If you’re feeling like you’re already overwhelmed by the number of students that you’re responsible for teaching, requirements from administrative, or the parents that you have to deal with, allow yourself to be encouraged today. You can allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in you today that will result in a new you to go along with the new school year.
Lesson Plans and God’s Plans
Proverbs 16:3 (TPT)
Before you do anything, put your trust totally in God and not in yourself. Then every plan you make will succeed.
If you asked most of your fellow teachers what their least favorite aspect of their job is, they would probably talk about lesson plans. If you’re being honest, that’s probably your least favorite part of the job, too. Most teachers dislike lesson plans because they’re so time consuming, and they don’t really allow you to consider the unique needs of the students in your class. While administrative requirements mandate that you write out exactly how you’re going to teach the core curriculum that people in your area’s central office have set, it’s important that you understand that you also have another set of plans.
Good teachers understand that no matter how detailed your lesson plans are, there are times where the needs of your students lead you in a different direction. Sometimes, you may be so determined to cover all the content that you’re required to teach that you miss the fact that there are students who need something extra.
While you should certainly do your required lesson planning since your bosses ask you to, it’s important that you submit your personal plans for your classroom to God. The students who you teach have been put under your care for a reason. They weren’t just haphazardly assigned to you before the school year started. Instead, God has determined what children you would come in contact with this year. When you submit your plans to Him, you can carry out His will for your life and shape the futures of the students in your classroom.
Don’t Get Overwhelmed by Changes
Malachi 3:8 (ESV)
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
If you have been teaching for any amount of time, you’ve probably already seen some changes in your school. Perhaps the state that you teach in has elected new leaders who have put new people in charge of education. Maybe you work in a school where the principal that you used to work for has been replaced to start the new year. With the beginning of a new schoolyear, you probably have new students who you’ve never seen before.
When we face a lot of changes, it’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed. Most states in the US have schoolyears that last around 180 days. Perhaps you had just started getting used to how things were going when the last schoolyear ended, and now you’re faced with a host of changes to start this year.
While everything around you may seem like it’s changing at a rapid pace, you can rest in the promise that the God you serve does not change. You are a child of the same God who created the world in Genesis, led His people out of bondage in Exodus, and sent His Son to save the world in the Gospels.
The Bible teaches us that the God we serve is “the same yester, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). That means that if you’re looking for something stable in a career that is constantly changing and evolving, you need only to look to God. While your school, your job, and your classroom may be changing significantly every six months, God has not changed at all.
You Are Gifted
Romans 12:6-7 (TPT)
God’s marvelous grace imparts to each one of us varying gifts. So if God has given you the grace-gift of prophecy, activate your gift by using the proportion of faith you have to prophesy. If your grace-gift is serving, then thrive in serving others well. If you have the grace-gift of teaching, then be actively teaching and training others.
When we read passages of Scripture like this one, we often think about people who teach Bible study classes in the local church. While that’s certainly a gift, Paul didn’t exactly specify what kind of teachers he was talking about. What does that mean for you? It means that God has put a gift inside you, and that He wants you to use that gift to teach and train others.
Have you ever considered what you do as a gift? If not, that’s completely acceptable. Most of us don’t view our jobs as a gift. However, most of us don’t have access to verses that specifically call our jobs a grace-gift from God.
When you made the decision to become an educator, why did you do that? Was it because you were dreaming about summers off? Ok, that probably had something to do with it. However, you also went into education because you believed it was something you would be good at. No one picks their long-term career by choosing something that they think they will be terrible at. No, you looked at yourself, the abilities and aptitudes that you have, and you decided that being an educator was the right choice for you.
It’s important to understand that when you were thinking about the thing that would make you a good teacher, you recognized things that God put in you. Being a teacher requires a great deal of patience. You weren’t just born patient because God wanted you to be a patient person. Instead, He put the gift of patience in you because He knew that you were going to need it to teach children! To be a teacher, you need to be organized. You didn’t just receive administrative gifts such as organization because God thought it would be fun to see you be an organized person. Instead, He blessed you with that ability because He saw your future before you were ever born!
Your abilities are a gift from God, and they have allowed to you embrace the grace-gift of teaching. Don’t get so caught up in the fact that teaching is your job that you forget that it is a gift from God. You are where you are because you are gifted to be there!
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help me to fulfill Your plans for me as the new school year begins. Remind me that I am not here by my own hand, but because this was Your plan for my life. Help me to show your love to my coworkers, my bosses, the parents I interact with, and the students I teach. In Christ’s name, Amen.