How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
[…] But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. Psalm 13: 1-2, 5, ESV
She sat across from me with tears in her eyes and said, “Today I prayed for the first time, ‘Lord, can you please give him a break?’”
My friend and her husband were both fellow teachers at another school. After making a very difficult decision to leave their home church where he’d been the assistant pastor for years, they had spent the past year sort of recovering, wandering, and waiting for God’s direction in their lives. Now, he had taken a job as a high school teacher, and in addition to the normal challenges that all first-year teachers face, he was being charged with completely baseless allegations of improper conduct—and this was at a Christian school, where folks should have been “acting like Christians!” It had been a long, wearying season, and the end wasn’t in sight.
She described their life in the past year as “living in the valley.” At the same time, their faith was still strong, and she said with a smile, “But I sometimes wonder if He’s got us in this valley for a purpose.”
Nothing happens to you that God doesn’t allow. While this can be a very difficult pill to swallow, once we are through the valley and onto the mountaintop, we can see with clear eyes that it is indeed true. God promises that He has a plan for our lives—and it is good—(Jeremiah 29:11); and He promises to never leave us nor forsake us, even in the shadow of the valley of death. He doesn’t promise us a life without valleys—and in fact, it’s impossible to reach a mountaintop without traveling through the low places first.
Educators, if you are in that place today, and if you wonder when it is going to end, when you will finally “get a break,” trust that the God who’s been keeping His promises since time began isn’t about to start changing that now!
Valleys force us to look up to where our help comes from. And what a beautiful testimony to His faithfulness your story will someday be!
Lord God, thank You for Your unending faithfulness. We know that Your promises are true and that You love us and want to use us for Your good purposes on this earth. Please help us to be patient and faith-filled when it is hardest to do so. Help us see the opportunities for sweet closeness with You in the pain, and to help others around us who are hurting. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Copyright Rhapsody Jordan-Parisi.
Rhapsody is a Christian Educators member and high school English teacher from North Carolina. She is passionate about helping overwhelmed teachers reclaim their time and peace of mind through support, encouragement, and intentional strategies. You can connect with her at tightropeteaching.com.
