And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:15, NIV

Are you discouraged? Do you feel like you stand alone against an enemy that is too strong for you? Does it feel like the district, administration, your colleagues, the students, their parents, the system, everything is conspiring against you to put out your light and overwhelm you? Do you feel mocked by the darkness around you?

It would be easy to feel that way if you were the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel, standing against the king who wanted him dead, and 450 prophets of Baal. Even the people of Israel, who should have had his back, were ambivalent at best. Elijah stood alone.

But even those odds were insufficiently adverse compared to the might of the Living God! Elijah let the prophets of Baal go first, so all could see if their god would answer their offering with fire.

Meanwhile, Elijah mocked them and their pagan attempts to get the attention of their so-called god. When it was his turn, he ordered that his offering to the LORD be soaked with water…three times! He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would respond powerfully, and He did. God sent fire from heaven that consumed the water, the sacrifice, the wood, and the stone altar! The whole assembly of Israel saw it and shouted, “The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God!” 1 Kings 18:39

Dear Christian educator, the Lord your God is not wringing His hands, wondering what to do about the darkness in your school. He is neither frustrated nor thwarted in what He plans to accomplish. If you feel like Elijah, standing all alone, have you considered that the “wood” at your school may simply not be wet enough yet? All the compounding schemes and devices of the enemy serve to accomplish only this: to magnify the glorious majesty of our God.

When the time is right, He will get the victory! He will reveal His glory to your school through one of His own who will stand and trust Him. Could it be you?

Lord Jesus, You defeated the grave and all the power of the enemy. Nothing can stand against You. Help us to stand with You when You move in ways big and small to reveal Yourself to my school! Amen.

Copyright Jere Vandewalle.

Jere is the Director of Operations for Christian Educators.