Every year since I've been a teacher. I've had a challenging class, whether high school students who hated math to fifth grade kids who have issues with each other. I've always prayed about it, and God has faithfully given me some great ideas to get kids on board, whether it's taping football gametime stats for math to painting t-shirts for graduation with sixth graders, God has given me a plan to win them over.
But this year I've had a class that hasn't responded well to all my bags of tricks, so I went to the principal for her support.I hoped she would come down to the classroom and talk to them for a few minutes, instead she put the fear of God in them and nailed them for almost half an hour. She had a lot to say to those 28 students: seven of which have behavior disorders and five academic challenges, but most of all she spoke with the voice of authority...and all twenty eight students sat up and listened attentively. They raised their hands when she asked questions and answered when she called on them. So what was the difference between her and me? The execution of her authority. She firmly reminded them often of what she could and would do and used her voice to emphasize the point.So what's mine?
God, our heavenly Father, is in a position of authority and when we call on Him, He will send us what we need.I prayed for help. Sometimes He sent ideas, sometimes He allowed a situation develop that appeared someone would harass me out of a job until He totally turned everything around for my good, this year He sent the principal with a voice of authority--loud and clear.
Not only did He suppply a voice of authority, but she, the principal, took creative action and taught them the lesson they didn't do for me. She enforced what she told the children and put action to her words. As Chritians we are encouraged to do the same: be doers of the Word, not only hearers.
I learned from my devotional book, Sparkling Gems from the Greek the word doers is "poietes" in Greek, which stems from the word "poema" from which we get the word poem, a creative piece of writing.God calls us to be creative doers of His Word, and that's exactly what my principal did. She took all my lesson plans, the video I wanted them to watch and the assignment they didn't do and taught it to them. Now that's what I call taking action! She combined her authority with action in a creative way.
God also gives us authority when we speak His Word, stand on it and seek to bring it to pass with all the creativity He gave us. For example, if He calls us to be writers, then we need to write stories that give others an understanding of God, who He is and His love for us in unique ways that will draw others to Him. If we live in a neighborhood, we need to seek ways to reach out to our neighbors that show the love of God: shovel their driveway, bring over a bowl of soup, bake a cake, write a poem for them or a birthday card, whatever He gives us ability to do. The possiblities are endless...
No comments:
Post a Comment