That's it! I'm Droppin' Out!
I've written before about the quotes that motivate and sustain me each school year. This year my focus has been on the fact that I belong to God twice over -- created and redeemed.
Interestingly, my students seem to have a unifying phrase this year too, very different from mine: That's it! I'm dropping out! Multiple students have said that to me this year half-jokingly, half-seriously. At first it was funny, and I laughed. Now when they say it, it makes me sad because I've realized that many of them do leave school instead of pushing forward to a future full of opportunities.
What's more is that I think it exposes a certain mindset they have in general. If anything is difficult or challenging or painful, their first instinct is not to dig in deeper but to quit.
Can you blame them? I can't. That's what I want to do too, all the time. My drive to work yesterday was a minute by minute struggle against turning around and going back home.
For starters this school year has been tough. The weather has disrupted everything. I'm sitting here now only because our school system declared a snow day at the very last minute. I was dressed and packed about to walk out the door when I got the cancellation text.
I have felt buffeted from every side. Personal struggles have plagued me. Professional worries have crowded in. I'm not alone in this. Everyone flounders sometimes or even most of the time. There's nothing weird about it. That's just life, especially a life lived in faith. To make things worse, there really isn't anything anyone can do or say to change it.
Perseverance is a difficult thing to write about. Honestly, I haven't posted to this blog in a long while simply because I've been applying it to my life every day. I would love to avoid putting it into words, but I promised myself I would write openly about my own spiritual growth in the hopes that what I say might help someone else. So here it goes --
First, sometimes there genuinely is nothing you can fix. It hurts to admit that since I am a hard-core fixer. I want to make everything better, every time. However, sometimes you are in life's brier patch. Struggling against the thorns just tears you up more. When that happens, it's best to just sit still even if you are in pain. I think especially if you are in pain. I've seen people I love dearly make really stupid decisions in a panic. Don't do it. When everything is caving in, sitting still is the best idea.
Second, there are purposes to pain, and the only way to understand what those purposes might be is to endure. God accomplishes things in our sufferings that He can't do any other way. Do you know how much the New Testament talks about enduring suffering? A lot. God is clear about suffering in His word if we're really paying attention. He says it can be used for His glory (John 9:3), to shape us in His spiritual image (John 15:2, Rom. 8:28-29), to teach us compassion for others (II Cor. 1:3), to strengthen our faith (II Cor. 1:8-9), to show others that Jesus is in us (II Cor. 4:10-11), to humble us (II Cor. 12:7), to draw us into deeper communion with Christ (Phil. 3:10), or to make us spiritually mature (James 1:2-4). The Bible is also clear that we won't always understand why we're suffering, but that endurance is our best bet anyway (Hebrews 12:10-11). One thing that is promised in the Bible is that God's children who suffer won't be forgotten by Him. At the end of each message to the churches in the book of Revelation, God promises true life to those who overcome (2:7,11,17, 26 & 3:5,12,21).
At this point let me offer you a truth that most Christians would rather not hear or think about. If you are sincerely surrendered to the life of Christ in you, you will suffer. There's no way around it. It's part of the deal. Oftentimes we're told subtly or even overtly that if God is happy with us then our lives will be easy, that things will go our way. Please don't buy into this horrible untruth. In fact, if you are growing spiritually, adversity is your Miracle-Gro. True spiritual growth is always opposed by the evil in the universe and even by our own humanness.
Recently, I came across a book that really helped me navigate this realization. It's called Found Faithful by Elizabeth Skoglund. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a book about strong champions of the Christian faith and their personal struggles with suffering of all kinds. Skoglund is a Christian counselor, and her insight about where the line exists between mental and spiritual health was illuminating. Also, seeing the challenges of people I have admired spelled out so clearly granted me an infusion of strength and faith. If you feel like that's what you need, give the book a try. God brought that book to my hands at the right time, and it certainly ministered to my heart.
Last, let me say that God will not ask more of you than you can give. He will provide just what you need to overcome your obstacles at the right time. For me, it was a great conversation with my dad or a friend. Out of nowhere a sunny day would appear and lift my spirits, or I'd hear a song that massaged my aching heart. In the last few months, there have been times in prayer when God has given me sweet reassurance of his presence in a spiritual gift flowing straight from Him to me.
Perseverance, endurance, or faithfulness -- whatever you call it. It's a fruit of the spirit that is often forgotten or underestimated. Let me reassure you that if you are inviting the Holy Spirit into your life, God will supply all you need to overcome and more than that -- to love, be joyful, have patience, be kind, have self-control, and fill you with goodness, gentleness, and peace.
The new negative mantra my students are spouting makes me more determined than ever to encourage them, to spend my energy urging them on, to help them grasp the lessons I've had to learn for myself.
Interestingly, my students seem to have a unifying phrase this year too, very different from mine: That's it! I'm dropping out! Multiple students have said that to me this year half-jokingly, half-seriously. At first it was funny, and I laughed. Now when they say it, it makes me sad because I've realized that many of them do leave school instead of pushing forward to a future full of opportunities.
What's more is that I think it exposes a certain mindset they have in general. If anything is difficult or challenging or painful, their first instinct is not to dig in deeper but to quit.
Can you blame them? I can't. That's what I want to do too, all the time. My drive to work yesterday was a minute by minute struggle against turning around and going back home.
For starters this school year has been tough. The weather has disrupted everything. I'm sitting here now only because our school system declared a snow day at the very last minute. I was dressed and packed about to walk out the door when I got the cancellation text.
I have felt buffeted from every side. Personal struggles have plagued me. Professional worries have crowded in. I'm not alone in this. Everyone flounders sometimes or even most of the time. There's nothing weird about it. That's just life, especially a life lived in faith. To make things worse, there really isn't anything anyone can do or say to change it.
Perseverance is a difficult thing to write about. Honestly, I haven't posted to this blog in a long while simply because I've been applying it to my life every day. I would love to avoid putting it into words, but I promised myself I would write openly about my own spiritual growth in the hopes that what I say might help someone else. So here it goes --
First, sometimes there genuinely is nothing you can fix. It hurts to admit that since I am a hard-core fixer. I want to make everything better, every time. However, sometimes you are in life's brier patch. Struggling against the thorns just tears you up more. When that happens, it's best to just sit still even if you are in pain. I think especially if you are in pain. I've seen people I love dearly make really stupid decisions in a panic. Don't do it. When everything is caving in, sitting still is the best idea.
Second, there are purposes to pain, and the only way to understand what those purposes might be is to endure. God accomplishes things in our sufferings that He can't do any other way. Do you know how much the New Testament talks about enduring suffering? A lot. God is clear about suffering in His word if we're really paying attention. He says it can be used for His glory (John 9:3), to shape us in His spiritual image (John 15:2, Rom. 8:28-29), to teach us compassion for others (II Cor. 1:3), to strengthen our faith (II Cor. 1:8-9), to show others that Jesus is in us (II Cor. 4:10-11), to humble us (II Cor. 12:7), to draw us into deeper communion with Christ (Phil. 3:10), or to make us spiritually mature (James 1:2-4). The Bible is also clear that we won't always understand why we're suffering, but that endurance is our best bet anyway (Hebrews 12:10-11). One thing that is promised in the Bible is that God's children who suffer won't be forgotten by Him. At the end of each message to the churches in the book of Revelation, God promises true life to those who overcome (2:7,11,17, 26 & 3:5,12,21).
At this point let me offer you a truth that most Christians would rather not hear or think about. If you are sincerely surrendered to the life of Christ in you, you will suffer. There's no way around it. It's part of the deal. Oftentimes we're told subtly or even overtly that if God is happy with us then our lives will be easy, that things will go our way. Please don't buy into this horrible untruth. In fact, if you are growing spiritually, adversity is your Miracle-Gro. True spiritual growth is always opposed by the evil in the universe and even by our own humanness.
Recently, I came across a book that really helped me navigate this realization. It's called Found Faithful by Elizabeth Skoglund. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a book about strong champions of the Christian faith and their personal struggles with suffering of all kinds. Skoglund is a Christian counselor, and her insight about where the line exists between mental and spiritual health was illuminating. Also, seeing the challenges of people I have admired spelled out so clearly granted me an infusion of strength and faith. If you feel like that's what you need, give the book a try. God brought that book to my hands at the right time, and it certainly ministered to my heart.
Last, let me say that God will not ask more of you than you can give. He will provide just what you need to overcome your obstacles at the right time. For me, it was a great conversation with my dad or a friend. Out of nowhere a sunny day would appear and lift my spirits, or I'd hear a song that massaged my aching heart. In the last few months, there have been times in prayer when God has given me sweet reassurance of his presence in a spiritual gift flowing straight from Him to me.
Perseverance, endurance, or faithfulness -- whatever you call it. It's a fruit of the spirit that is often forgotten or underestimated. Let me reassure you that if you are inviting the Holy Spirit into your life, God will supply all you need to overcome and more than that -- to love, be joyful, have patience, be kind, have self-control, and fill you with goodness, gentleness, and peace.
The new negative mantra my students are spouting makes me more determined than ever to encourage them, to spend my energy urging them on, to help them grasp the lessons I've had to learn for myself.
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