Rachel Whisman

My sixth year as a public school teacher starts tomorrow. Each year I do not set out to have a specific scripture to claim for that school year. However, in the Lord’s doing, some years I will have scripture screaming at me that I cannot ignore and they are beautifully nailed to my heart. On the flip side, some years I don’t. Either way, I want to share with you the things the Lord has pointed out to me throughout the past five years.

1st Year: Fear of Man vs. God

I wanted to fit in. I wanted to please the people around me. I wanted to be accepted and I did not want to stir up anything. I would stay when others would gossip and slander other coworkers. I would go along with what the other teachers were doing. I did not have a backbone at all. I wanted to keep the peace by showing that I cared by listening, but that was not kind at all. I messed up and got caught up in the whirlwind. I would excuse it with, “How else would I show Christ to my coworkers if I wasn’t in their conversations?” A lie that was a facade for my fear of man. I did fear the Lord, but the fear of man outweighed the Lord. Of course, this all eventually came tumbling down on me by God’s grace. His discipline upon me was just and the most caring thing He could have done for me. From my first year, I learned that pleasing people was not worth it. My job is to please the Lord in my thoughts, actions, and attitude whether or not people will like it.

2nd Year: hUmiLiTy

By far, the most challenging year of my career. I switched schools and grade levels. COVID was still here and believe it or not, that wasn’t the most difficult part….my students were. Their attitudes may have been a result from COVID and not socializing, but these kids…oh my. It seemed as if my partner teacher and I got an onslaught of misbehavior. It was not just one or two misbehaviors, but six to seven in each class. They were explicitly disrespectful in how they talked to us, outright reluctant to obey, mouthing off, the list is endless. It was a lot. I was not prepared for it. I StRuGgLeD with classroom management. Since I struggled with classroom management, teaching the content was nearly impossible. I did it through gritted teeth, a heart bent in anger towards my students. I was not performing as well as I needed to be. My scores were poor in comparison with the other teachers. I was put on a growth plan and I was just trying to survive by floating on my back so I wouldn’t drown. By God’s Grace. I survived. I grew as a teacher. Broken and contrite my spirit was, but fortunately, that is who the Lord uses. 

Thinking back on my first year of teaching it is interesting to see how the Lord provided an opportunity to see if I learned what He taught me from the previous year. However, the fear was of children instead of adults. Changed subjects, but same lesson.

3rd Year: Colossians 3:24

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as the reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” 

I changed grade levels again and went to 2nd grade. By this time, I was thinking about leaving the profession. Two years down and there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel. I felt like I was stuck in a cave. On top of that, our school had received a new curriculum, which added tension, and on top of that, I had to complete Reading Academy (basically an online college course for the whole year). I laugh now, but it was a lot to do. Oh, and I also had been given a class full of students with really high needs and a couple of students with misbehavior sprinkled in there. Talk about a year. Something was going to have to change or I was tapping out. God didn’t change, but He changed me. In God’s kindness, He gave me a clear focus and determination on Him. He reminded me that I was serving Him. This classroom was His. These kids had been placed in my classroom for a reason. None of it was mine, but everything had been given to me by His loving hands. The Lord provided joy amid the suffering. The day-to-day grind was challenging, but I liked the challenge. Constantly throughout the year, I was reminded that the work I was doing was for the Lord and not the approval of others.

4th Year: 1 Peter 3:9

“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” 

I had hit my stride by this year. My sweet spot was 2nd grade and I was confident in what I was doing. I was singing praises that He had redeemed my love for teaching. Yet the refining process wasn’t over. The main thing I learned from this year was long obedience in the right direction whether in joy or pain. I had a student who did not want to cooperate with me. Screaming, yelling, throwing, and tearing were some of the verbs to highlight the actions this student would take at me. I had amazing support from my administration, but the wear and tear day after day was exhausting. This year taught me to “pray without ceasing.” Every breath I exhaled felt like a prayer for the Lord to give me the strength to endure. 

In addition, 1 Peter 3:9 was a constant alarm going off in my heart every day, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” I just never thought it would be within the context of a seven-year-old. Every fiber of my being wanted to put that student in their place with sass, but the Lord kept me from myself. It was hard, but praise the Lord we have His Spirit working inside of us.

Finally, the Lord pointed out to me in whatever harsh treatment I was enduring at the moment, Christ had already gone through this, “When He was reviled He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 3:24). The big slap came when the Lord convicted me that before I knew Christ I was the one who reviled Jesus. I was the one who slandered His name. If He saved me while I did those things, can the Lord not use me to suffer on behalf of Christ? To take on the insults as a sacrifice to extend the Gospel to this child in the way I respond to their unfair treatment towards me? Of course He could use me and He did. Also, reading that Jesus entrusted Himself to God gave me great hope and courage. Since Jesus did it and He lives in me, then I could as well. He prepared the way and by His grace, I could walk this road of suffering and not just struggle but rejoice in it because “My God would supply every need of yours according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19) and on that, I rested on. 

5th Year: Proverbs 27:2

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”

My lips would be ready to say something about myself, to prove myself, but then this proverb would close my mouth and hush my spirit. Just as Christ did not defend Himself when he was accused, neither did I have to defend myself. Just as Christ’s actions would speak, so would my actions speak. However, this does not call us to pure silence but to proclaim about another not ourselves. The Lord showed me this year that I didn’t have to prove my character to others by talking much about what I had accomplished, but I could find my satisfaction in who Christ told me I was. I experienced a lot of freedom from realizing this. 

What made this fun was getting to share this truth with my students. All my second graders could quickly relate to their dislike towards someone bragging about themself. No one enjoyed the company of one. I would teach this scripture during our morning meeting and share some example scenarios. Throughout the day, anytime I would recognize that they wanted to brag about themselves, I would remind them, “Let another person praise you, not yourself.” They picked up on this quickly and it was a joy to watch as they gently would rebuke someone in love when they would start bragging.

What About You?

A lot of things happen in five years. From new jobs, new cities, new relationships, and much more. God, in his kindness, has chosen to reveal some things to us, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the works of the law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). It is good to remember what God has done throughout your life. It brings Him glory and praise because He did it and can be an encouragement to those around you. 

So, what about you? What is something that the Lord has recently pointed out to you in the last month or year? Is there a scripture that has been going off in your heart that won’t shake? If so, I would love for you to share by commenting below!