IN WHOM TO TRUST – 10/01/2019

Prayer: Lord, help me to trust in your provision, protection, and guidance this school year.

Scripture: And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 2 Kings 6:16 KJV

Insufficient resources, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate pay, and burnout are a merely a few challenges educators encounter each academic year.  Teacher strikes and walkouts happen across the country. Still, we are asked to place our trust in lawmakers, administrators, colleagues, financial resources, instructional and human resources, security officers, and most often ourselves. But today, I encourage you to, like the Prophet Elisha, place simple trust in God.
In 2 Kings. 6:14-17, the servant was overwhelmed with the army of chariots and horses (v. 15). Because the servant allowed the natural battle to consume his imagination, he made the army larger than life and was already defeated. What we exalt in our minds is what will rule in our lives.  If we view the educational challenges as a tidal wave coming straight toward us as if we have no arc of provision, then we have succumbed to defeat. While the servant was fretting over the army, the Prophet Elisha says, “fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (v. 16). Even faced with so great a battle, he knew in whom he trusted.

He prayed to God to open his servant’s spiritual eyes that he may see and God answered Prophet Elisha’s prayer. Simple trust in God produces His supernatural responses. The servant was then able to see how they were going to win the battle. The servant saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha (v. 17). So, although they appeared defeated in the natural, they were surrounded by God even more in the Spirit. Simple trust in God produces His supernatural responses.

In whom will you trust when facing instructional hardship in your classroom? With your students? With your colleagues? With your lead teacher or administrator? Will you begin to second guess your choice to become an educator? Will you begin to doubt yourself? Or will you, like Elisha, place simple trust in God?
Elisha knew the authority; he trusted the authority; he understood the power of the authority; and he believed in the authority. God produces miraculous responses to our prayer requests when we genuinely exhibit simple trust in him. As He provided victory for Elisha, so will he also provide victory for His educators?

Copyright Stacey D. Reed. Email [email protected]

If you’ve enjoyed this devotion, Stacey’s book, Morning Musings: Weekly Encouragement for the Educator’s Soul is available for purchase here.