On the Battlefield
Let's just say that Wednesday was not my finest hour. On Tuesday afternoon, I and the other tenth grade English teachers found out that we needed to go through all the preliminary information for the PSAT and the PLAN with our students, the next day.
Wednesday morning I was doing great. I have planning first thing in the morning, so I floated around making copies, entering grades, and chatting with other teachers. I knew filling in all the background information would be a little boring, but I figured my students would welcome a break from the grueling schedule of reading, writing, and grammar we've been doing every day. I wasn't concerned at all.
About thirty minutes into my first class, the entire day crashed right into the toilet. Some students found the process bewildering and needed one-on-one coaching to get it done. Meanwhile the other students were bored, so they started doing what teens do.
I learned long ago that teenagers are reactive; they say and do things without thinking. Their brains aren't developed yet -- I'm serious. Also, there really isn't any way to control them. You can strongly encourage them to go along with your program, but you can't really make them do anything. My normal coping strategy is to make the best lesson plans I can, so my students are challenged and busy. I felt bored a lot in school when I was a student myself, so I keep up a pretty brisk pace in my classes.
Obviously on Wednesday the pace was beyond my control. I had to struggle through, helping the confused ones and trying to monitor the bored ones. By the end of my first class period, I was ready to burst into tears. I was frustrated and a little bit angry. The perfectly ordinary day I'd planned on was gone.
I flounced into the teacher's lounge at lunch carrying my bad attitude under my arm. I launched into a very unattractive monologue about politics, standardized testing, and students who don't know their own addresses. As soon as I left the lounge, I realized what I'd done and apologized right away to my friend who'd fallen in step beside me. Of course she is the sweetest person ever born, so she said, "It's okay. Sometimes you just have to vent."
The rest of the day went about like you'd expect. My students snapped at each other and me. I'm surprised I didn't burn a track into the linoleum tiles walking around the room so much. When three o'clock rolled around I was tired and mopey. I'm happy to say that I had a much better attitude yesterday.
While I cleaned this morning, I started thinking about what happened on Wednesday. It made me wonder where I went wrong. Here's the thing: I expect to always get my way. I assume all the time that my mattress is supposed to be a perfect blend of soft and supportive, that I should be able to eat exactly what I want for lunch, and that everyone I know is going to do what I want them to do.
I find myself thinking that my life is supposed to be a holiday stay at an all-inclusive resort. It's easy to fall into that kind of thinking, especially if you're an American. Think about it. We've grown up watching movies from Hollywood and being told all this stuff about the American Dream and such. But life isn't really supposed to be like that because it's a battlefield.
The life we're living goes so far beyond the material. There are two sides at war in everything we experience all around us -- Good and Evil.
One of the young men I've gotten to know over the last few years is having a tough time. He hasn't said anything to me about it. I know he is because I know him. I've seen him grow up from a lanky ninth grader into the finest young man you'll ever meet. Just thinking about him makes me smile. I was praying for him this morning, and I thought about what I would tell him if he ever decides to talk to me about what's troubling him.
I think I would say that any time you decide to act for good, especially when you make spiritual commitments to serve God, you will nearly always immediately face a serious challenge. That's the way of things.
I was reading the last few chapters of the Gospel of Luke this morning. No matter how many times I read a Bible passage, I notice something new about it, or it speaks to me in a new way every time. As you might already know, on the night before Jesus' crucifixion Peter, one of Jesus' best friends, acts like he doesn't know Jesus at all. It's one of the most heartbreaking parts of the story. Peter knows right away what he's done and runs away weeping (chapter 22).
Let's rewind a little bit to the previous chapter. After the Passover meal, Jesus' last supper with his disciples, the two of them have a conversation. Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the night is over, and Peter refuses to believe that he's capable of such a thing.
I've read that part of the story hundreds of times. This time, I caught something else Jesus says to Peter, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren" (22:31-32).
First of all, Jesus is essentially saying, "Peter, you're about to be attacked!" He says Peter's name twice and there's an exclamation point there for a reason. He's not just casually mentioning it; he's full of serious emotion.
Here's the good news: Jesus also says, "when you have returned to Me" -- not if. Jesus knows that Peter is going to be tested and that things aren't going to go well initially. However, Jesus can also see beyond that to the Peter who becomes the leader of the early church. Even after he fails miserably, Peter remains one of Jesus' best friends and one of the men entrusted with Jesus' message when he returns back to Heaven.
As a central part of God's plans for the church in the future, Peter faced spiritual attack from Evil, and if we choose to represent God and to carry out his plans for us, we must expect to be attacked, too.
"I Will Get There" is a song from The Prince of Egypt soundtrack. Although it's associated with an animated movie, it has merit on its own.
There's a reason there are so many songs that speak of battlefields and believers as soldiers ready to fight. Jesus himself said, "Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34).
If you find yourself in the middle of the fray, there are things you can do to fight. The best thing is to fill your mind with God's word; it is the sword of the Spirit, after all. Last year, when I was struggling so badly, I started carrying around cards with scriptures on them in my pocket. When I started to feel myself giving up hope, or if I had a moment to spare, I would take them out and shuffle through them.
The key is to stay focused on the fact that God's grace is enough for every situation. The famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon said,
Image Credit: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/standardized_tests.asp
Wednesday morning I was doing great. I have planning first thing in the morning, so I floated around making copies, entering grades, and chatting with other teachers. I knew filling in all the background information would be a little boring, but I figured my students would welcome a break from the grueling schedule of reading, writing, and grammar we've been doing every day. I wasn't concerned at all.
About thirty minutes into my first class, the entire day crashed right into the toilet. Some students found the process bewildering and needed one-on-one coaching to get it done. Meanwhile the other students were bored, so they started doing what teens do.
I learned long ago that teenagers are reactive; they say and do things without thinking. Their brains aren't developed yet -- I'm serious. Also, there really isn't any way to control them. You can strongly encourage them to go along with your program, but you can't really make them do anything. My normal coping strategy is to make the best lesson plans I can, so my students are challenged and busy. I felt bored a lot in school when I was a student myself, so I keep up a pretty brisk pace in my classes.
Obviously on Wednesday the pace was beyond my control. I had to struggle through, helping the confused ones and trying to monitor the bored ones. By the end of my first class period, I was ready to burst into tears. I was frustrated and a little bit angry. The perfectly ordinary day I'd planned on was gone.
I flounced into the teacher's lounge at lunch carrying my bad attitude under my arm. I launched into a very unattractive monologue about politics, standardized testing, and students who don't know their own addresses. As soon as I left the lounge, I realized what I'd done and apologized right away to my friend who'd fallen in step beside me. Of course she is the sweetest person ever born, so she said, "It's okay. Sometimes you just have to vent."
The rest of the day went about like you'd expect. My students snapped at each other and me. I'm surprised I didn't burn a track into the linoleum tiles walking around the room so much. When three o'clock rolled around I was tired and mopey. I'm happy to say that I had a much better attitude yesterday.
While I cleaned this morning, I started thinking about what happened on Wednesday. It made me wonder where I went wrong. Here's the thing: I expect to always get my way. I assume all the time that my mattress is supposed to be a perfect blend of soft and supportive, that I should be able to eat exactly what I want for lunch, and that everyone I know is going to do what I want them to do.
I find myself thinking that my life is supposed to be a holiday stay at an all-inclusive resort. It's easy to fall into that kind of thinking, especially if you're an American. Think about it. We've grown up watching movies from Hollywood and being told all this stuff about the American Dream and such. But life isn't really supposed to be like that because it's a battlefield.
The life we're living goes so far beyond the material. There are two sides at war in everything we experience all around us -- Good and Evil.
One of the young men I've gotten to know over the last few years is having a tough time. He hasn't said anything to me about it. I know he is because I know him. I've seen him grow up from a lanky ninth grader into the finest young man you'll ever meet. Just thinking about him makes me smile. I was praying for him this morning, and I thought about what I would tell him if he ever decides to talk to me about what's troubling him.
I think I would say that any time you decide to act for good, especially when you make spiritual commitments to serve God, you will nearly always immediately face a serious challenge. That's the way of things.
I was reading the last few chapters of the Gospel of Luke this morning. No matter how many times I read a Bible passage, I notice something new about it, or it speaks to me in a new way every time. As you might already know, on the night before Jesus' crucifixion Peter, one of Jesus' best friends, acts like he doesn't know Jesus at all. It's one of the most heartbreaking parts of the story. Peter knows right away what he's done and runs away weeping (chapter 22).
Let's rewind a little bit to the previous chapter. After the Passover meal, Jesus' last supper with his disciples, the two of them have a conversation. Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the night is over, and Peter refuses to believe that he's capable of such a thing.
I've read that part of the story hundreds of times. This time, I caught something else Jesus says to Peter, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren" (22:31-32).
First of all, Jesus is essentially saying, "Peter, you're about to be attacked!" He says Peter's name twice and there's an exclamation point there for a reason. He's not just casually mentioning it; he's full of serious emotion.
Here's the good news: Jesus also says, "when you have returned to Me" -- not if. Jesus knows that Peter is going to be tested and that things aren't going to go well initially. However, Jesus can also see beyond that to the Peter who becomes the leader of the early church. Even after he fails miserably, Peter remains one of Jesus' best friends and one of the men entrusted with Jesus' message when he returns back to Heaven.
As a central part of God's plans for the church in the future, Peter faced spiritual attack from Evil, and if we choose to represent God and to carry out his plans for us, we must expect to be attacked, too.
"I Will Get There" is a song from The Prince of Egypt soundtrack. Although it's associated with an animated movie, it has merit on its own.
There's a reason there are so many songs that speak of battlefields and believers as soldiers ready to fight. Jesus himself said, "Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34).
If you find yourself in the middle of the fray, there are things you can do to fight. The best thing is to fill your mind with God's word; it is the sword of the Spirit, after all. Last year, when I was struggling so badly, I started carrying around cards with scriptures on them in my pocket. When I started to feel myself giving up hope, or if I had a moment to spare, I would take them out and shuffle through them.
The key is to stay focused on the fact that God's grace is enough for every situation. The famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon said,
Beloved, let us commit ourselves in faith to the care and keeping of God. Come poverty, come sickness, come death, we will in all things through Jesus Christ's blood be conquerors. By the power of His Spirit, we will overcome at the last.We may have to endure the battle for today, but those of us in Christ know that the war is already won.
Image Credit: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/standardized_tests.asp
Comments
Post a Comment