The summer months were a particularly bad time not because I was going through difficult times but because I was remembering them. Work is particularly difficult and I found that the thought of going back was much worse than actually going back - there were a lot of tears that week! Working as a primary teacher there is a lot of pressure and doing 60+ hours of work a week is still not enough. Thinking about it I don’t know how I cope really and I suppose the truth is I don’t cope very well! I have at least three headaches a week and don’t sleep more than five hours a night but I do cope.
It’s taken me a while to realise that when you allow negative thoughts to enter your mind and stay there, they do quite a bit of damage so concentrating on God’s words really helps. Knowing Bible verses to combat negative words is really the only way to get rid of them, not allowing yourself to think in a negative way. No matter how busy my day, I need to always make time with God to restore my soul.
The title of this post is the title of a song by Hillsong I discovered at New Wine during the summer that has really helped me to picture what knowing God might look like. What does it mean to have God ‘forever reign’? For me it means not letting negative thoughts course through my mind, not letting others’ opinions of me affect my identity but know and concentrate on what God thinks of me. It means securing my identity in Him and knowing that He loves me, has a purpose for me and forgives me. It means loving others without worrying who’s loving me.
“Oh, I'm running to your arms
I'm running to arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign”
I'm running to arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign”
Songwriters: Jason Ingram; Reuben Morgan
© shout publishing
© shout publishing
It is interesting but I am reading the book of Job. Many say he did not complain and a simple reading shows that is not true. Job a righteous man, King David a righteous man and the Apostle Paul a righteous man; all complained, all expressed weariness and even despair. This is the time the Bible tells us to mourn with those who mourn, my aunt always told me if you cannot mourn with those who mourn you do not earn the right to rejoice with them when they rejoice. Not so many years later I heard a preacher on TV say the same thing. In our human form, we will have times of despair, weariness, etc. The Bible tells us God will uphold the weak and the Apostle Paul stated, it is when we are weak that Christ is made strong. How can these things happen if we do not experience weakness?
ReplyDeleteIn Christendom we are made to feel that weariness, despair, sadness, etc. are bad things and that we must control them at all cost, Christ wept. He also mourned over the state of His people and their unbelief; and we are told that we can grieve the Holy Spirit. If our God can express grieve, mourning and other such emotions why do we feel we must be exempt from them and that if we do experience them; they are a bad thing. We share in the grief of our Lord and over the condition of things when they do not line up with His Word. We live in a imperfect world and it grieves God as well as vex Him, such things should also do the same for us.
We suffer many things on this earth and if we desire to alleviate suffering of any kind we will have to leave this planet. The only place this exists is in heaven after the fullness of our redemption. The greatest give anyone ever gave me, is to say, please allow yourself the opportunity to be human for once the fullness of redemption comes we will never suffer this condition again.
I taught kindergarten, and now the trials and the burdens of the task, allow yourself to be human and forgive your times of weariness and despair it only proves you are human. Yes, His Word comforts us and it is a great thing to have on hand and the hope of eternity is what we grab onto, but do not take away the very thing that brings the help, our need of encouragement from Him, His Word and from others. It is in our weakness that others are allowed the opportunity to have His Word flow through them and it feeds both the speaker and hearer.
May God bless you school year with heavenly kisses and encouragement from the children.
Mrs. J.
Ah thank you for your kind comment. I am blessed by the children everyday, it's the only reason I would ever consider this job. My ability to teach well has been called into question and I'm not sure of myself anymore but God gives us strength to endure and suffering allows God to show us this. Thanks again.
ReplyDelete