so much pain

Tragedy seems to be a part of every day life now. We not only hear stories on the news of bad things happening but we actually know these people to whom bad things are happening. I know children with cancer and adults who have had to deal with the deaths of their (supposed-to-be lifelong) spouses. A family I know had their house robbed while they were away for the holidays. Still yet there are global issues such as hunger and sex slavery and war. It's overwhelming. And it's tempting to ask where God is in all of it. Many people, including those who have a relationship with God, beg to know why it's all happening. Can't He just stop it all? Doesn't He care? Why doesn't He step in and do something? Is He not good? Is He not loving? 

I discovered this song this morning. As I was looking for the lyrics I came upon the artist's blog and an explanation of the song. Below is the song and an excerpt from his blog.

"In the Scriptures, even when pressed by Job, God never gives a philosophically satisfactory answer to the ‘problem of evil;’ He does not wrap up the issue in an understandable and graspable package. Instead, and many years later through Christ, God offers the only response I’ve ever found to be satisfying on any level; the sacrificial action of the Cross. Certainly, there are philosophical implications to the Cross of Christ but they are peripheral to the act itself. It seems to me me that the pain in you is not so much a matter of philosophical crisis as it is a call to to suffer with those who suffer and to do so redemptively. I believe the philosophical crisis is real, but I believe the latter is more vital. Both offer a path of suffering: you will either suffer internally because you cannot make sense of the world and it’s Creator, or you will suffer in a way that brings healing."

Justin McRoberts Blog

These people suffering are His children. And because of this, He provided a way to bring hope. He sent His only Son to die so that we could be saved from this deep despair. If you believe this, and you know the One who is life, then you must offer this to the hurting people around you. We can suffer because He too suffered. And even better, we can rejoice in victory because He rejoices in victory that evil and death have already been conquered. Cry and hurt and grieve knowing that it can all be redeemed at the foot of the cross. 

deep and wide

Sometimes I wonder why I didn't get a degree in something that would land me a job that paid the big bucks. I loved numbers, algebra, and problem-solving growing up. Why didn't I go into business or engineering? I love people. I could have been a physical therapist or a nurse. 

Why did I spend four years passionate about a profession that 8 out of 10 people think is a joke? I feel as though I'll spend half of my career defending health & physical education and the other half actually teaching kids about it. But I read a tweet from Lecrae the other day and I remembered exactly why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place...

"Fight for depth in life, not just breadth. What good is it to be a million miles wide but only an inch deep?"

I realized that while professional athletes make more money in a year than I'll probably make in my entire life...they're busy getting wide. They reach hundreds of thousands of people, yes. The majority of whom they will never meet. Strangers have their names written on jerseys and pictures and Facebook cover photos.

Engineers create buildings and ideas that will reach and accommodate thousands of people as well. Businessmen deal with numbers and clients on a shallow basis. Dentists and doctors put up with you when they have to, but usually they have 10 other people to see in the next hour. "...a million miles wide..."

On the other hand, teachers go deep. They care and mentor and encourage and love more than you can ever imagine. Sometimes they're so busy being moms and dads for students they hardly have time to be a parent for their own children. They believe in students who don't even know what it's like to have someone cheer them on in this tough thing called life. 

When I started teaching I was prepared to explain to my students how to throw and catch. I could handle teaching kids how to skip and gallop and juggle. When I started teaching high schoolers I was even prepared to teach them how to play flag football and what BEEF stands for when shooting a basketball. What I wasn't prepared for was how to console a student whose mom died after a 13 year battle with cancer. I didn't know how to treat 16 year old girls who had been beaten and abandoned. And I certainly couldn't help girls so lost in self-esteem issues when I have struggled so much with that myself.

Yes, college prepared me to teach health and physical education. But it wasn't so great at preparing me to teach students. 

So as I lay in my bed at 9pm on a Friday night, so exhausted from a week of teaching, I am realizing that teaching is so much than that. It's about caring and loving and praying, really praying, for you students. It's about going deep.