This week I met the sixteen young students with whom I will be spending my schoolyear. I enjoy working with the little ones, but with sixteen (instead of last year's twelve) it has been a challenging week.
As I thought over my day, trying to figure out better ways of working with those who were struggling, a thought came to mind:
If they would just do what I tell them, their time in school would be so much more pleasant for them!
As soon as I thought the above, I realized that my students aren't the only ones who make life harder for themselves by disobeying!
So often I find myself inwardly rebelling against some small thing that I'm supposed to do. For example, I have been described as having "phonaphobia". I do not like calling people.
In orientation, I was reminded that each teacher was supposed to call the parents of thier students sometime during the first two weeks. Immediately, I had to fight against my natural propensity to fuss inwardly. I had reasons other than my "phobia" for not wanting to make the calls, but I knew that I needed to submit to authority and do as I had been told.
This was the day I had that convicting thought. I knew that this had not been about phone calls. God was showing me that I have not conquered my rebellious nature. It is still lurking in the background, waiting to make trouble.
I knew then that I needed to make those calls. It was too late to do so at that point, but I planned to make my calls the next evening.
Long story short, the Lord worked out a different way for me to accomplish the same thing as the phone calls, but only after I submitted to making them.
--Obedience is really better after all! : )
