by Pam Hicks
Recently I have become aware of the necessity of waiting on God in any faithful walk with the Lord. Because these waiting periods are used by God to build perseverance, character, and faith, they are not easy to endure. Like a farmer that plants, waters and prunes, a teacher spends long hours planning, teaching, encouraging, challenging, assessing, and remediating her students, waiting to see enlightenment or growth produced. When the end of the term comes, she is often still staring at the same bare ground she has been tilling for ten months; rarely does she ever get to see any immediate results, let alone the full result, of her labors. Her teaching is a waiting game. Many of the Bible characters had to play the same waiting game: Abraham had to believe God for years for just one child on God’s promise that his descendants would be too numerous to count. Elijah had to wait with his head between his knees for a long while before even a wisp of cloud appeared, though God had promised a deluge. The disciples had to wait for many days in an upper room for the Spirit to come on them. Despite the results we see, our job as Christians is to wait on God for His results in His time. Like Elijah, we may often feel we are God’s only prophet left in the public schools. Like Abraham, we may feel we are too old to see any of the results we hoped for. Like the disciples, we may feel hopeless, scared, and alone while we wait. But we must not rely on what we can see now. Our minds have been transformed and renewed by God’s truth, and we know that our labors for Him are not in vain. Our faith is in what we do not yet see--in God’s promises. God assures us in Philippians that our anxious thoughts must be replaced with faithful prayer, prayer that includes thanksgiving because we are so convinced of God’s power and truth we can expect His results. And with that faithful waiting in prayer comes His peace, beyond all understanding of this world. Educators of God, have faith. Enjoy the peace of God as you work and wait and pray in hopeful expectation for His results.
Pam Hicks, a graduate of Baylor University, began teaching in Texas before homeschooling her five children. For the past 14 years, she has taught English at Deltona High School, serving for 8 years as sponsor of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Pam is the wife of Dr. Bill Hicks, pastor of Four Towns Community Church in Deltona. They are proud grandparents of six, with two more on the way.