God Teaches in Most Unexpected Ways - by Yvonne Teo

In July 2001, I left the Ministry of Defence as a Research Analyst to teach. Through this transition God has taught me many valuable lessons and I would like to share some of them with you.

I decided to enter teaching, despite having a great deal of apprehension, as after spending some time in prayer, I felt the sense of peace that God was going to be with me and bring me through it. Although I could not really see how, I was sure that in His own ways He was going to bless and fulfil His purpose and plans for my life through this experience. Indeed God’s wisdom and ways are far higher than mine. Within a few months of my course in the Postgraduate Diploma in Education, I saw that being a teacher was in many ways parallel to what it means to be a Christian following God. It dawned on me that as I pursued my course in teaching, I was also being blessed as some of the lessons were equally relevant to my spiritual life. 3 lessons that struck me most were: 

1.    A teacher has to have the passion for teaching, the kind of passion that cannot be taught but caught.

2.    In the early stages of teaching it is easy to be filled with dreams, enthusiasm and optimism, but over time it is easy to get disillusioned and discouraged.

3.    To be an effective teacher, one has to not just teach, but be willing to still be taught.

Passion for teaching:

If a teacher were to teach a subject with little passion, not having the conviction that knowledge is beneficial for the student, there is a slim possibility that the teaching would have achieved any positive purpose even if there is much content in the lesson.

In the same light, if my life was all talk about God and doing ‘God-related’ things, but yet lack the reflection of a deep passion for God, then I am bearing no fruit. I will just be like the “salt that has lost its saltiness…no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men” Matthew 5:13.

This was a good reminder to me that my life, I have to make that choice to be disciplined to seek God daily so as to renew the passion for Him, for His people and for those who have yet to know Him.

I have been busy meeting people, playing in the music team each Sunday, leading a cell group and being involved in various church ministries/committees…but the question was whether all of these were pleasing to God and fulfilled His will for my life. Thus it was really true that only when I have caught and possess the passion of God in my life, that I bear His fruit and be a testimony for Him to the people around me.

Teaching can lead to disillusion and discouragement through time:

Many teachers enter the profession with big dreams to ‘make a difference’ to the lives of the young. The reality is that through time, being in the reality of the classroom will find this enthusiasm short-lived, or worst still, a teacher becoming disillusion with teaching. It is important to recognise that regardless of the number of years we have been teaching, we need to constantly remind ourselves of the main reason for teaching and to keep that vision in mind. It is also helpful to speak to fellow teachers who are able to share their own experiences in dealing with some of the ‘lows’ of teaching so that one need not feel alone and have the support of others who are pursuing the same dreams.

This is equally true in our spiritual lives. In the early stages or those moments straight after we have rededicated our lives to God, we are filled with determination and desire to live our lives right with God, to turn away from sin and offer Him our best above our own desires. However this feeling does not last forever and soon we face struggles and discouragement from almost every possible source. These are unavoidable, but the challenge really is how we deal with them. Our response should be to go back to God in broken-ness, recognising the meaning of having Salvation from Him, which gives us the gift of His Grace and Love.

Even for myself, it is so easy for me to dwell in moments of discouragement and lose my faith in God when I forget who He really is and struggle on my own.

I remember a time when I struggled to believe that God was really a God I could trust, someone that if I choose to put first in my life will never let me down. Many things were just going badly for me, and I was feeling very tired and discouraged, even with things and people in church. For several weeks I just went through the motion of the weekly activities that I was involved in; outwardly things seem okay but deep inside I knew my spiritual condition was bad. I refused to read the Bible and the only time when I prayed was when I was questioning God for answers. Things reached a point when I decided I needed to make a choice of whether to believe in God or not. I told myself to decide what I wanted to believe in and live it, instead of being a hypocrite or double-minded person. I finally picked up the Bible and read the book of Romans. I realised what I needed to be reminded most at that point in time - God’s  righteousness, my sinful nature, and my response to Him.

The verses that suddenly made so much sense were Romans 12: 1-2 “ …in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God…be  transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Indeed I had forgotten about God’s grace and mercy in my life, and had allowed things around to surpass the true nature and meaning of Him in my life. I decided that I wasn’t going to give up on my faith, and prayed that God will give me the strength to press on in my walk with Him. Things did not immediately get better, but through time, my faith in God grew stronger as I kept focused on the basics of who God is, what He did, and what that means to me. All this made a big difference in my perception of the things around me and helped me overcome the challenges and discouragement. 

It is also good to share with a fellow believer in periods of spiritual ‘dryness’ so that they can pray and be accountable with us. It seemed true to me that people can sometimes be discouraging to you when they do not know you are ‘down’. It is only when we share with them that we give the opportunity for others to be a blessing and encouragement through the situation.

A good teacher is not only one who teaches, but one who is willing to be taught:

It is important for teachers to recognize that although in the classroom they are the ones imparting knowledge, there are still many things to learn and one should always have an attitude of being teachable. The danger of not realizing this need can result in teachers being complacent, proud and set in old ways which may not be the most effective.

As we serve God in various ministries in the church, we need to recognize that there  is a pressing need for us to keep building up our relationship and knowledge of God to stay effective and focused. This was a rebuke for myself in my role as a cell leader.

Not only was I spending little time on my own to deepen my knowledge in the Word  of God, I also failed to see the many opportunities where I could learn even as I teach  my cell members. To effectively disciple others to be followers of God, I needed to  remember that I myself was still going through the process of discipleship and that there was still so much I needed to learn about God. I needed to be disciplined and  completely humble before God and man. 

I pray that what I have shared may be an encouragement to you. It has meaningful lessons for me as I did not expect God to speak and teach me in this manner. My prayer on entering Teaching was simply for God to use me to be a blessing. However God has blessed me even greater by helping me realize that as I work towards being an effective teacher and face the challenges that come, many of these lessons are just as applicable in my spiritual life. I was not very excited about being a teacher initially, but when I realised the many times when God used ordinary situations in my course of teaching for me to experience Him most real in my life, my attitude slowly changed. I look forward to the time ahead as I really believe that He will continue to guide me to be a blessing and be blessed as I hold on to my faith in Him to fulfill His purpose in my life.

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