Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous.” (Joshua 10:25)
God’s Repeated Review
and Drill
God believes in intermittent repeated review and drill in
order to teach an objective. He believes
in spiraling objectives throughout our lives.
Have you ever noticed that when God wants to give you a message, He will
tell you the same thing in several different ways, often using different people
or circumstances to share the exact same lesson? In the Bible the great Hebrew
leader, Joshua, is told multiple times to be strong and courageous. Moses
told him to be strong and courageous when he was in a crowd with many Israelites.
(Deuteronomy 31:1-6) Moses then did some
private tutoring. He pulled Joshua up in
front of his classmates and personally told him to be strong and courageous
once again. (Deuteronomy 31:7)
After Moses, Joshua’s teacher, died, God Himself had a little
chat with Joshua telling him to be strong and courageous. He told Joshua this
two times. (Joshua 1:6) Joshua was then
given some “hands on” cooperative learning group activities (battles) in order
to practice the concepts he had been taught. He led the army of Israel into the
Promised Land. He saw the walls of Jericho fall. He had to deal with sin in his
own camp, that which caused him to fail an assignment, to lose a battle (Joshua
7). He saw many of his fellow Israelites become discouraged and flee a battle
(Joshua 7:5). In the midst of this, God tells Joshua once again to be strong
and courageous (Joshua 8:1). Again, more review and more practice. Joshua asked
God for a miracle during one particular battle and God granted it. The Lord
sent large hailstones down upon the enemy and also made the sun stand still in
the sky.
Joshua not only learned the lessons of strength and
courage God taught him, he began to teach these same lessons to others. He called the Israelite leaders out to stand
on the necks of five enemy kings his army had captured. What does Joshua tell these Israelite
leaders? Of course, “Be strong and
courageous!” (Joshua 10:25)
Encouragement is contagious. It is a healthy virus that
can spread throughout a classroom, a school, and a district. One encouraging
person can put hundreds of discouragement demons to flight.
Rachel was placed in Anna Mendoza’s special needs
classroom in the third grade because of severe dyslexia. Rachel’s reading
skills were two grade levels below her grade placement. The first day of school, during her reading
period, she came up to Anna after class and said with downcast eyes, “I can’t
read Miss Mendoza, I can’t read.” There was no hope in her eyes, no joy. At age
eight, her spirit was defeated and she seemingly had no courage left to try.
Anna knelt down and got down on Rachel’s level, looked
into her eyes, and replied, “If you do what I ask you to do, if you try, I promise
you will learn to read.” Anna encouraged Rachel by telling her she could learn
to read but it was going to take discipline.
Starting at her instructional level, Rachel began rapidly moving through
the phonetic curriculum planned for her within a small group setting. Rachel
began to try to read once again. She
took courage and began to move forward one step, one phoneme, at a time. During individual independent class reading
times and during testing Anna made a point to listen to Rachel individually
read for five to ten minutes every day – encouraging her for her progress and
gently correcting mistakes. Anna bathed
her student in praise for every small accomplishment she made which gave her even
more courage and motivation. Anna privately prayed for Rachel and the school staff
prayer group also began praying for her.
At year’s end, Rachel had made two years growth in her
reading skills, four times more than her annual average. She passed the state
third grade level reading exam. The following year, Rachel was placed back into
a regular classroom for reading with support from the special education
inclusion team. Thank you Lord.
No matter what you are facing professionally or
personally right now in your classroom or in life, “Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous.” No matter what disability, dysfunction,
or depression any of your students may be in, your cry to them from the Lord
must be, “Be strong and courageous. Be
strong and courageous.” Let God lead
you. Be disciplined and you shall see victory after victory. Give God the glory
for every victory.
Prayer: Lord, fill us
to overflowing with strength and courage. Fill and overflow the students,
parents and staff we serve with courage and strength as well.
Application: Every week
select a different student of the week (one each period if you are a secondary
teacher). Make a point to personally talk to this student before or after class
or before or after school. Get to know
his/her hopes and dreams. Encourage him/her to work hard cooperatively with
others to achieve these dreams.
Sharing: Who has been
the greatest encouragement to you professionally and in your personal life? Explain.
CLASSROOM
LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: TEACHER! TAKE COURAGE!
(For inquiries contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) #4
Prayerfully dependent,
K
PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement.
• Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray
May God bless you with success His way this 2013-2014 school year.
Christian Educators Association International is the only professional association in the United States specifically for Christian educators in public schools. CEAI protects our members first in prayer, next with excellent professional liability insurance and other benefits while helping them live out their high calling as a Christian in the public school.
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