Do you ever feel like this poor Lego man? Pulled in a hundred different directions and quite frankly feel like you are in pieces. As an educator, I know this feeling well but today it hit me that I don’t have to feel overwhelmed and broken. I realized that God loves me so much that He doesn’t want me overwhelmed and broken. I am no expert and for sure do not have all the answers but God did lay some of His Word on my heart today and I wanted to share that with all of you. I pray that God speaks to you through this blog post and His Word that is contained in it.
If you are not familiar with the world of education right now it is a hot mess. Covid, opinions, mandates, social media, major learning gap, major social gap whatever you want to point to, and look at the past 2 1/2 years of education are nothing close to what we all signed up for and our kids have paid the price of all of it.
Teachers and administrators have always been pulled in several directions and most of us are happy to only be wearing 3 or 4 hats. This past 2 1/2 years we have worn what feels like 100 hats all day, every day. We have always been asked to do more with less and since Covid that has gotten beyond what anyone could do or bear. Add to that the fact that everyone has an opinion about education and mandates and how to teach despite never teaching in a classroom for one second. By the way, we all have family and friends and are at the tail end of a worldwide pandemic and all of us have lost people we love to Covid or other issues related to Covid. This is not a political blog about Covid but I do want to try to paint the picture of what educators and kids have been facing in education. My youngest son is a senior and his last “normal” year of school was his freshman year. I don’t know about you but I grew a bunch physically, mentally, maturity, and spiritually during my Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year of high school. That is the picture of education at this time.
Again, I do not say any of that for anything other than to paint a picture of the monster that has been my personal and so many of my colleagues and friends’ monster over the past 2 1/2 years. Today as I was reflecting on the day God smacked me. I realized that I was just like the picture, broken and scattered and that He didn’t create me to go through life like that. Not only did He not create me to go through life like that but He has called me to ministry and that I have not been the salt and light that He created me to be. To my friends and colleagues that I have failed during these past 2 1/2 years I ask for your forgiveness.
There are so many scriptures that God has given us to battle these feelings and thought patterns but I want to look to a few that I feel God shared with me this afternoon.
First and foremost there is Jesus and His loving and encouraging words in Matthew 11:28-30 28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Jesus wants your burdens, all of your burdens not just your work burdens but all your burdens. He longs to carry those burdens for you. He mounted a cross to die in your place so that He could carry those burdens for you. The first step to defeating being overwhelmed and broken in your life is to realize you can’t carry it so stop trying. Surrender. Freedom is found in surrender. If you have never accepted Jesus that is step number 1. If you have accepted Jesus then I beg you to remember back to when He drew you to Him for the first time and that sense of peace and acceptance you felt and found. You can live there every day.
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
If you do not have a scheduled, non-negotiable time every day that you meet God in your secret place start today. If you miss a day start again the next day. Being grounded in the Word and prayer is the only way to be able to walk through life. God wants you to share everything with Him. He longs to have conversations with you where you truly bear your soul and why you feel what you feel. He wants to love you and to show you there is a better way, His way. He can’t do any of that if you never show up to talk to Him.
Finally God showed me the result of seeking Him every day and being committed to the study and application of His Word to our lives.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
You see this was what I was missing. Being with God. Being in His Word. Telling Him everything and surrendering my burdens, including my feelings, to Him results in me being like a tree planted by a river. I will never run dry. I will never wither and I will always produce fruit because I am always fed by the perfect One.
If you are struggling first give it all to God. If you need prayer or need someone to talk with please use the contact us tab on this website and I will get with you and jump into this mudhole with you and point you to the one with all the answers, His name is Jesus.
Father, I pray that anyone reading this blog who needs you finds you. Call them into a relationship with Jesus today. For those who know you, remind them of why they fell in love with you and surrendered their life to you. Be real in their lives. Show up and show off just like you always do. We know your heart that none should perish but all come to repentance. I thank you that you don’t leave us there but you desire a true, intimate relationship with you and you truly do want to carry our burdens. Please show each of us just how to give those to you today. In Jesus name, Amen.
Ryan says
Just what I needed to read today…appreciate it Josh! Thanks be to God!
Melody says
What a true blessing this was!