Rachel Whisman

Heavy emotional burdens weigh upon my students this year. I have a lot more this year than in previous years. A lot; too many to count. Maybe because I am in the thick of it, but the horizon of summer seems more like a mirage rather than reality. Only 34 more teaching days, and my body feels it. Any other teachers out there with me? Endurance keeps popping up in my mind as if I am in a marathon, just trying to finish. My legs feel like dead weight at this point. I keep repeating to myself, “His grace is sufficient for today” and “this too shall pass.” The burnout feels real. You might not be in the classroom, but everyone faces their own need for endurance. Can you relate? Maybe you’re at home raising children, potentially tending to the care of your elderly parents, or even in a job that is grinding on your last nerve. We all go through various hardships. 

When we look back, we can find a companion in Moses. I only have 34 days left, but he had 34 plus years with his people. Maybe he wasn’t stuck in a classroom with 21 seven-year-olds, but he was stranded in the wilderness with similar complaints and no way out. Grumbling, whining, and complaining echoed in the vastness just like seven-year-olds. Tears instead of thankfulness. Decades of monotony instead of seeing deliverance into the promised land. His fuel was his daily reliance on God, feasting on His character and promises. Nothing around him seemed to change, but through the suffering, his heart was circumcised to the Lord, and he was changed. 

Then Jesus marks the end point. The cries of our hearts didn’t drive him away, but brought him near to us. Instead of staying in heaven, he came down to earth to spend 34 years or so with us. Instead of rushing from town to town, he would linger, stay, and be with his people even when they didn’t fully comprehend him. Who is a God like that? Then, when everyone forsook him, including God turning his back on him, it was “For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.” He endured because God was his joy, and he loved us. 

It begs to question, is God my joy? Do I trust in his love? Am I looking to him to serve, or myself? In the day-to-day annoyances that creep in, who am I bringing them to? The Lord or my self-pity as the Israelites did in the wilderness? The need for endurance reveals our weakness and need in Christ. For me, finishing up these last weeks in 2nd grade has revealed that. For you, it looks different, but our answers are the same. Nothing and no one else satisfies except Jesus. Therefore, press into Him. He is our hope and sustenance. 

“The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:2-3