…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6, NIV
For two years, I walked the same sidewalk to my classroom every day, praying for God to open a new door. I felt as though I was in the wrong position. I didn’t have the confidence or the experience to run a self-contained classroom by myself. I wondered if I’d ever feel like I was truly supported by my administration. And I struggled with my responses to the student behaviors that kept me crying out to God daily.
Near the end of the second school year, I received a letter from the principal that my position was not being renewed for the following year. I immediately felt defeated. I was going to be unemployed. I was scared. I was angry.
As I held the note in my hand with tears in my eyes and expressed to one of my co-workers what had happened, she responded “Maybe it’s an answer to a prayer.”
Hearing what she said felt like someone had just slapped me…Hadn’t I asked God every day for Him to open another door?
A few weeks later, another co-worker told me about a position at a school closer to my home. It wasn’t the same role, but I gladly took the advice and immediately applied. Shortly after, I was called in for an interview.
As I sat in the parking lot before the interview, I asked God, “Please Father, help me get this job, help me feel as though I am part of this family, help me to fit in.”
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the principal say, “I don’t normally extend an offer at the interview, but something tells me that you will fit right into our family here.”
In my lack of confidence during a dark time in my career, all I knew to do was pray through my feelings of doubt. I felt like a failure. I felt as though whatever I said or did was wrong. It seemed like God didn’t hear me for so long, that He didn’t acknowledge me. Yet when it was all said and done, God heard all along and He answered. His response was in His timing. God’s promises are real. He is faithful.
Today, if you are feeling as though you have nothing more to give or you just can’t do anything right or meaningful, remember God’s promise that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Regardless of whether we can see the small changes, He is working in us to renew our hearts and minds. He knows our frustrations, our feelings, and our failures. If you look back on your experiences, you will most likely be able to see that God allowed you to endure certain trials so that you’d rely on Him more.
Father, today we give You thanks for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We recognize that some days we will not feel as though what we do matters, but Lord, we know that You are working in us and all we need to remember is to trust You. Help us through the daily trials of being an educator, help us to overcome any fear or doubt, and remember Your promise to carry our good works to completion even when we can’t see them. In Jesus’s precious name, we pray, Amen.
Copyright Angela O’Keefe.
Angela is a Christian Educators member and teaches children with learning disabilities in Florida.
