Ready or Not!

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” I Peter 1:13

Are you ready for school to start? I never really know how to answer that question, but I hear it an awful lot this time of year. I often answer with, “Well, ready or not, here it comes!” Summer break for me is busy, but since it is so much more relaxed than the school year, I always hate to see it end. In the summer, I have more control over how I spend my time, and I miss that when it’s over.

But, at the same time, I love Back-to-School season! When my kids were babies, I stayed home for six years with them, and I can honestly say that every year when August rolled around, I genuinely missed being part of the Back-to-School frenzy. As a teacher, it is my favorite time of the year! Everything is new and fresh and the possibilities for the upcoming year have me re-charged and excited.

I think it’s fair to say that most teachers spend many, many hours preparing for the new school year. We do our best to be ready for the year. We prepare our classrooms by rearranging the furniture, decorating, organizing, and cleaning out. We prepare materials for our students. We prepare timelines to make sure we can cover all the curriculum we are asked to teach. We prepare new units and lessons and projects. But I feel like I often neglect to prepare in one vital area: do we prepare our hearts and minds for the spiritual battles to come?

Teaching is a wonderful profession, but it is very demanding in so many ways. The challenges faced in a single day at school can be overwhelming. As teachers, we deal with people all day long. Little people who push our buttons and try our patience and melt our hearts. Co-workers who sometimes need us, who sometimes oppose us, who have different personalities and perspectives and teaching styles. We deal with administrators who want us to be at our best at all times and who are also feeling that pressure from the school board and community. We deal with parents who want to help but are not equipped, parents who have serious challenges at home and at work and in their own families, parents who demand attention, and parents who avoid attention. There are papers to grade and tests to create and plans to make. There are last minute meetings and surprise announcements and assemblies no one told us about. And this is barely scratching the surface!

Are we ready for all that? How can we even begin to prepare for all that!? I want to be able to stay focused on God’s plan and His work in and around me during the school year. I want to always be obedient to the whisper of His voice asking me to step out and minister to those around me. This school year, I want to make a difference in my world for His kingdom and His glory, but with all of the challenges of teaching, I know I will get distracted. I need to “prepare my mind for action” as Peter wrote.

First, I need to pray. Mark 1: 35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Jesus did this to prepare for ministry, and if He needed it, how much more do I?

Second, I need to enlist the help and support of other believers in my building. I need a community to hold me accountable, to pray for me and with me, to give Godly counsel, to share the burden. Hebrews 10: 24-25 says, “And let us spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some ar in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

This is my challenge to you today: Prepare your heart and mind for the work God has planned for you this school year. Start each day with a few minutes of reading scripture and praying on your own, and connect with a small group to meet with each week for more prayer and support. Because, let’s be honest, whether we’re ready or not, the challenges are going to come. I know I would like to be as prepared as I possibly can be.

Father God, Thank you for each and every teacher who is reading this blog. I pray that you will help us to prepare our hearts and minds for this school year. Help us to make prayer time a non-negotiable priority each day. Help us to find other teachers who will pray with us and for us. Lord, our job can be really hard, but we want to serve You this year by serving those around us. Thank you for the students, families, and co-workers You will place in our lives this year. Show us how to minister to them. Fill our hearts with Your love for each one of them, and guide us as we try to show that love every single day.