I'm not saying that I don't have talents and skills as a teacher. It's just that I'm a much better teacher when I spend time reading the Bible and praying in the morning. Then I'm relying less on my strength and my skills than I am on God's strength and his empowerment.
The thing is, the more I teach, the more I forget this basic rule of life that applies to pretty much all areas of my life. I'm much more efficient when I walk with God as I do whatever I do throughout my day, when I spend time with him and make him my focus at the beginning of the day.
Yesterday morning, I ran out of time. I had put together a fabulous Valentine's dinner on Monday night, and we had a really lovely time with friends. But shopping and cleaning the house and chopping vegetables took pretty much the whole day, and I didn't get my lesson plans done. At least not adequately.
And on Tuesday morning I felt exhausted. Even though I woke up at 5:00, I moved slowly and I had to make a choice. Read my Bible and pray--or make lesson plans.
I could hear the Holy Spirit speaking to me. "Make time for me. I'll take care of the rest."
And then I worked on lesson plans. I really didn't get enough done--or maybe I was too tired--the reason doesn't matter. I did a lousy job leading students through the discussion. I got stuck on a controversial topic. I walked away feeling defeated.
I felt so defeated that I got on the elevator to go down, but it went up, and I walked down the hallway on the third floor before I realized I had gotten turned around.
I've seen this basic rule of life played out when leading small groups, when having tense discussions with family, at work, in social situations, so I'll repeat it.
I'm much more efficient when I walk with God as I do whatever I do throughout my day, when I spend time with him and make him my focus at the beginning of the day.
The thing is, the more I teach, the more I forget this basic rule of life that applies to pretty much all areas of my life. I'm much more efficient when I walk with God as I do whatever I do throughout my day, when I spend time with him and make him my focus at the beginning of the day.
Yesterday morning, I ran out of time. I had put together a fabulous Valentine's dinner on Monday night, and we had a really lovely time with friends. But shopping and cleaning the house and chopping vegetables took pretty much the whole day, and I didn't get my lesson plans done. At least not adequately.
And on Tuesday morning I felt exhausted. Even though I woke up at 5:00, I moved slowly and I had to make a choice. Read my Bible and pray--or make lesson plans.
I could hear the Holy Spirit speaking to me. "Make time for me. I'll take care of the rest."
And then I worked on lesson plans. I really didn't get enough done--or maybe I was too tired--the reason doesn't matter. I did a lousy job leading students through the discussion. I got stuck on a controversial topic. I walked away feeling defeated.
I felt so defeated that I got on the elevator to go down, but it went up, and I walked down the hallway on the third floor before I realized I had gotten turned around.
I've seen this basic rule of life played out when leading small groups, when having tense discussions with family, at work, in social situations, so I'll repeat it.
I'm much more efficient when I walk with God as I do whatever I do throughout my day, when I spend time with him and make him my focus at the beginning of the day.
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