Journal - Saturday 25th October 2008

I can't believe it - two days in a row!!

I have had a real week of annoying dreams - mostly school related. Whenever I start at a new school, I always feel like I'm a `new teacher' on probation for at least a year. I guess I am really. I am following in the footsteps of a Support Teacher who had been there for many years - I am being compared, whether I like it or not. But why, after all I've been taught in the Word, do I still feel I have to prove myself to others?

Anyway, back to the dreams. Last night I was at a parent/teacher interview. You know the kind at High School, where all the teachers are set up in the `auditorium' or big room, and you have to go around to each them. In this case, I was the student. I can't remember any of the specific comments - all I know I woke convinced I was the worst student (teacher) ever.

I do believe the Lord is trying to tell me something though, because when I woke up I read my Bible - (Ecclesiastes 3).

"God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planned eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. So I concluded that there is nothing better for people to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can. " ECCLESIASTES 3:11&12.

Then Charlie spoke to me from his book `Encourage Me' - the chapter entitled - `You are not a nobody'. He talked about the people behind the scenes in the lives of Martin Luther, Dwight L Moody, Charles Spurgeon and of course Paul - whose names we don't even know.

"Some of the parts that are the weakest and least important are really the most necessary. .... So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honour and care are given to those parts that might otherwise seem less important." 1 Corinthians 12:22, 24.

If it weren't for the heroic `nobodies' there wouldn't be the top-notch leaders in the Church - or in my case, schools. Most importantly of course, God doesn't see you as a nobody, He has selected you for the role in which you are placed. Be ENCOURAGED!!

Thanks Charlie!! Thank you Lord!!

Finally, there was my devotion in Bob Gass' `Word for Today'. The question was asked what does God value in your job peformance - the answers:
1) Humility and servanthood, not pride and a sense of entitlement.
2) Courage and risk taking.

I think it's time I took God's words to heart!!