COURAGE AND CHANGE PART 1
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being the one constant thing in our professional life that never changes.
Scripture: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
All living things are constantly changing. Since the moment God knit the first cells of our bodies in our mother’s wombs we have been changing. Every living thing is in constant change. As our bodies are constantly changing, so are our professional lives. In Janice’s first few years of teaching she was amazed at the constant change going on in her professional life – changing strategies, philosophies, materials, and personnel. Janice has served as a first grade teacher in the public schools for thirty years and has never changed schools or teaching assignments yet she has worked under eight different superintendents, eight principals, and at least ten associate principals. She witnessed six or seven major changes to the approach of teaching reading. (All of them, of course, have been “researched based”.) She has seen hundreds of staff members come and go. She has seen the special education students placed in all day self-contained classes because “research” indicated that this was the best methodology. In the last several years she has seen every special education child placed in her regular classroom because “research” indicates that is the best methodology. She has seen no accountability testing systems at the campus, district or state levels changed into systems now where three to four weeks of instruction, almost an entire month of every school year, is dedicated to accountability assessment.
Amidst this professional maelstrom only one thing has remained constant for Janice and that is her personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb. 13:8) His instructions for her to go into her classroom, shut the door, and privately pray for the staff, parents, and students she serves has never changed. His call for her to return good for other’s evil has never changed. His call for her to encourage and gather with other Christian teachers to agree in prayer has never changed. His instructions to bear spiritual fruit (peace, patience, love, etc.) have never changed. His instructions for her to constantly thank and praise God for all things in her professional life have never changed. His instructions to acknowledge Him in her professional life so He would direct her path have never changed. His instruction to let His light shine where she works has never changed.
Jesus is the compass to guide us through this constant professional change, this maelstrom. Our hope and trust is in Him. We must keep our eyes on Him, the compass, and follow where He leads.
Reflection: What has been the greatest change in my professional life? How did I get through it?
Getting Real: Stay focused on and obedient to the teaching of Jesus Christ in your professional life, not the constant parade of change.
Copyright Don Clark. Email [email protected]