While driving home from work this week, I was flipping through radio stations and landed on one with a new song about to start. I had the thought, “Whatever the message of this song is, that’s God’s message to me.” Curious, I listened closely. The song was “My God Can.” It’s a song about how when God is our God, our situation ceases to be about us and our abilities. Instead, it becomes more about the strength, power, and glory of God through us. As the events of the next two days unfolded, I realized that God was speaking to me about a divine truth that’s not just for me and my situation but for all those who call the Lord their God.
My Situation
God called and equipped me as a high school English teacher over twenty years ago. I love what I do and work very hard, not just teaching my kids but also providing my team with lesson materials and examples. It’s in this way that the Lord can speak through me, not just to my kids, but to all the senior English classes at my school. I guess with all the work I do, and as long as I have been doing it, I thought I was a pretty good teacher — “all that” if you will.
Well, about three years ago, the school district instituted a program in which teachers can earn a distinction with extra money for good scores on their appraisals, as long as their students’ standardized test scores are good. Administrators have always claimed that a “proficient” rating is good, but the payouts don’t happen unless you get mostly “accomplished” or “distinguished” (which is rarely given out).
A “Meh” Review at Work
Long story short, by the Lord’s grace and wisdom, I missed it the first year, hit it the second year, and was on track to miss it again this year. Yes, for the second time in three years, someone who came into my classroom and watched me teach gave me a rating that was just a little too low for the distinction. This year, my appraiser said that my kids were on task when I was near, but talked about other things when I walked away. The thing that really upset me was that I had provided all the materials, all the sequencing, and all the lesson graphics for all three of us English teachers on my team. The other two did great, but I didn’t meet the goal. I. Was. Devastated.
Not My Abilities
I fretted and fussed and worried about my results for days before I finally came to my senses and asked the Lord how I should see the situation. It was a Wednesday night, and as I was pulling into the church parking lot, I had the thought, “It’s not your abilities but God’s abilities.” Fifteen minutes later, and before the pastor was even done with prayer requests, he had said the words “not your abilities” no fewer than four, maybe five times in a row. I got the message.
Anyway, my school has a policy that if you don’t like your rating in the fall, you can request another appraisal in the spring. I did that. This past Wednesday, my appraiser called and asked me when he should come. There was only one day that would work before his deadline, so he planned to come in on Friday. He asked me which class, but I insisted that he choose, ultimately leaving the whole thing up to God.
That’s When I Heard the Song
On the way home from work that day was when I heard the song, “My God Can.” It echoed what the Lord already told me about my teaching skills and abilities not being about me at all. After all, 1 Corinthians 4:7 says that everything good we have, we have received from God, so we can’t really take credit for it. Just to make sure I got the message that He would be with me on Friday, my pastor’s anchor verse for his sermon that night was Isaiah 41:10. It’s the verse that the Lord gives me every single year before school to remind me that I’m not alone. He is with me and will strengthen me (because He is my God). For good measure, I found when I got home that my Bible bookmark was waiting for me at Isaiah 41 as well.
My Second Appraisal
This time, when my appraiser came into my classroom, the atmosphere was perfect. From the time he walked in to well past the time he left, every student was on task every moment. In fact, throughout the day, there was a heightened level of attention and engagement in my classes. Thinking about my two “failed” appraisals, I realized that the areas I got “proficient” and “accomplished” were exactly swapped. There wasn’t a pattern of mediocrity in my teaching, but a clear lesson that it wasn’t about me at all. It’s God’s grace that allows me to plan, teach, and have an effect on my students, leading to good results.
I don’t know what my new rating will be yet, but whatever it is, the glory goes to God.
A Greater Lesson
Looking back, I marveled that the Lord would speak to me, use others for confirmation, and intervene so greatly on my behalf. Suddenly, it occurred to me that this lesson wasn’t just about teaching me humility. It was also about showing me that when God is your God – when we truly submit and surrender our lives to Him – it ceases to be about us at all. It’s now about Him THROUGH us. We may not be able to do much on our own. But He can make people see what He wants them to see, think what He wants them to think, and do what He wants them to do. He can change even the very atmosphere. All we have to do is let Him use us and remember that the glory for anything good that comes out of our lives goes to Him.
It's not about our own abilities. It's about God's abilities through us. Share on XEven Though I Can’t, My God Can
As I was praying about the ending to this blog, I “just happened” to click on a message from Carter Conlon that popped up on my phone. In it, he said, “For God to do something, He needs nothing to work with. And when we think we’re something, quite often, we’re not ready yet to be used in a supernatural capacity in the Kingdom of God. It’s when we realize that God, only You can do this in my life.”
In these last days, God may yet call some or all of us to do great and supernatural things for the Kingdom of God. Things that are too big, too much, too complicated, and too hard. And when He does, there will be no room for ego and no place for fear. We must simply allow Him to flow through us as the cracked, empty vessels that we are.
If you like articles that are both a testimony and a lesson, try Stop Murmering and Complaining with the GUARD Method. Please sign up to receive my blog in your email inbox. You can find that at the upper right of your screen (or at the bottom on a phone). Also, check out my YouTube Channel, where I read the blogs out loud. For Scripture memorization through music, visit The KJV Rocks, featuring word-for-word KJV Scripture songs. Sing them until you know them by heart!
