Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5, ESV

There used to be a saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” 

I was having a tough moment. I was so discouraged by the underwhelming “Teacher Appreciation Week” at my school that I was nearly in tears. I reflected on the year: I had lost my dog, a beloved former student died in a car accident, my mother-in-law fractured her neck, my dad broke his hip and spent over two months in a rehab facility, my husband had surgery for a blocked carotid artery, my dad was hospitalized with sepsis, and a dear student found out his leukemia had returned. So, a petty thing like a meager “Teacher Appreciation Week” felt so heavy only because it was added on top of so many genuinely tough things.

But then I began reading the Gospel of John and remembered how Jesus faced genuine hardship. At the end of John 10, after facing a series of difficult and heartbreaking conversations with the Jewish leaders, Jesus retreated to the wilderness. While there, He received word that His dear friend, Lazarus, was sick. He did not go to him immediately, but He did go back to Judeah, where all the conflict had occurred with the Jewish leaders. Back in that difficult and dangerous environment, Jesus rose to the occasion and performed one of His greatest miracles.

Educators, I want to remind you today that when we face tough times, God is at work in us. So, I am back at my school, expecting God to do a miracle in my heart, because when the going gets tough, the tough go to God for comfort and then get going.

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your Word. It shows us how Jesus faced tough times and teaches us how to endure them ourselves. Thank You for being our Comforter as well as our Savior and Lord. Help us to align our hearts with Your purposes so we can go in the ways You have planned for us to go.

Copyright Diana Anderson.

Diana is a Christian Educators member who teaches history and art to secondary students at a Christian school in Kennewick, WA.