Belongings


 

If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans 14:8

For the past several years I have worked in a school where the principal made all of the decisions, somewhat arbitraily. At the end of each school year teachers and staff are shuffled around without much thought to how that might impact those individuals. Bad as it was for the teachers, it worse for those of us in paraprofessional positions. Often we would not know where we would be placed until the day we returned for the new school year. Several of us have commented over the years that it makes us feel like furniture. We can be picked up and moved without comment, question or thought. It's not a nice feeling. It would seem that each of us should have some say in where we work.

          That principal is retiring this year and as it occured to me that her replacement might not treat us like her belongings, I realized that that is exactly how I want God to treat me and He won't.

          My biggest problems occur when I think I know what is best. When I use my  pesky free will, that is when things tend to spin in an ugly direction. Why?  I don't know what's best for me but my Abba does and yet, He is the one who gives me choices.

          Back to the principal, she placed us wherever with no thought to whether we were suited to the position or not. She did not know what was best for us. She knew what worked for her; what made sense to her. She knew what was easiest for her. She didn't consult with us at all. Just last year she placed me in a position which was absolutely a wrong fit. I was there for most of the school year, until a shift in student numbers offered me a ticket out. It was eight long, hard, uncomfotable months. That placement was not good for me but Abba worked it for my good.

          The perspectives and blessings that came from that time are for another message. The point here is that I resented her lack of concern for my thoughts and opinions but I beg Abba to disregard what I'm saying or praying and let His will be done.

          I love, love, love, when God picks me and plunks me down somewhere, anywhere. When I can see His hand in my circumstances I'm thrilled. I pray for opportunites to submit, to obey and He graciously gives them. I want Abba to control me, my life and every aspect of it because I know that He is for me. Not to say that my principal was against me, but I certainly was of little consequence to her. My value with her was negligible but my value with my Abba is something I can't begin to understand.

          I resented the principal treating me like a belonging but I pray every day, "Abba I belong to you" and I dearly want Him to treat me like His belonging.

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