It was our last teacher prayer meeting for the Spring of 2024.  I can’t remember if there were three or four of us, but I wanted this prayer meeting to be different.  I wanted the message to stick.  And as I meditated during my morning quiet time, a song came on my YouTube feed …

Micah Tyler’s “Praise the Lord.”

The tempo got me.  It was upbeat.  Catchy.  It made me want to watch the music video coming from my phone.  This is what I saw.

We needed this message!  I cracked up over the little things that were plaguing Micah Tyler in his video.  We’ve all had those days before.  Days when everything seems to be going astray, and I began to insert my life as a teacher there with hilarious scenes I was enduring myself. 

• Students parkouring down the hallway during passing period
• Picking up gum wrappers, Gatorade bottles, and discarded paper after locker cleanout
• Telling students they are late, and having them laugh in your face

Oh, man!  The memories are so thick.  So real.  So like it was just yesterday!  I have to do some more.

• Girls whispering in circles in the hallway and running away when confronted
• Boys tackling each other walking back from lunch
• The parent email that pops through saying their kid swears they turned in the assignment

We can stop there.  You get the point.  I smile now, but I tell you what, back then it was quite frustrating.  I made the decision to watch the video as a group.  Such an awesome decision! 

Our discussion followed with laughter.  It was almost like we were trying to one up each other with stories of what we were enduring over the final stretch.  We ended our last prayer group to continue praising the Lord no matter what came our way.

Sometimes it is the little things like the list above that pile up, making teaching seem so thankless.  A parent concern, a disrespectful student, a misunderstanding with a colleague—these things can coagulate together, creating a monster!  Before you know it, you are wondering if it is all worth it.

Sound like you?  I want to speak encouragement!  I have recently fell into hard times, but I am not allowing that to stop me.  Oddly enough, I am allowing it to propel me forward, and it all comes from living out a scripture I hold true to my heart …

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”  (Philippians 4:8)

Guess what?  YOU get the choice of what to focus your mind on.  You can focus on the rotten stuff or the good.  The mountain of papers to grade or the opportunity to make a difference.  Where do your thoughts go throughout the day?  Pretty sure that Paul knew how to live this out.

The early church could have died had it not been for men like him.  And he wasn’t worried about parent/teacher conferences or standardized testing or even parent relationships.  Paul and the rest of the believers were being persecuted relentlessly.  Stephen was stoned.  Others were jailed.  They were beaten, chastised, and told to leave.

When Peter and John were told to stop sharing the Good News or else, they earnestly replied, “We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).  Paul was the same.  And when he and Silas found themselves in a prison, they chose not to reflect on the bad.  They saw the good!

We need to hit the pause button here.  What good can come out of being chained in a prison?  Paul saw this not as a hinderance to his mission but as an opportunity to spread the gospel!  As a matter of fact, he led his jailer to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of his life.  Not just the jailer, but his ENTIRE family!  You can read the story for yourselves in Acts 16:16-40.

One of my all-time favorite movies is Shawshank Redemption.  Andy Dufresne spends two weeks in “the hole.”  The scene was probably eerily similar to Paul’s situation, but Andy lacked a friend to sing with.  So, he sang by himself.  He allowed the music of Mozart to take him to places he had never been.  GOOD places that erased the dungeon he was in. 

He tried explaining it to his friend, Red, later on at the dinner table.  Red wasn’t having any of it.  Andy focused his mind on the positive.  Red took the negative route.  Andy leaned on hope.  Red only saw discouragement.  As you watch the scene below, which character do you relate to?

I have come across a valley in my life, but I will be truthful that my hope comes not in anything here on earth.  Not in getting the right job.  Not in whether or not the Royals and Chiefs win.  Not in having the perfect marriage.  I have realized through the years that putting your hope in worldly things always leaves you disappointed.  You end up craving more.

The Chiefs had better threepeat though.  Seriously.

Where is your hope?  Where are your thoughts?  Do your thoughts lead you to hope in Jesus?  Or do they frustrate you, leading you nowhere.  Be a Philippians 4:8 Christian today.  Look for the good out there!  I see gorgeous fall weather.  I see strangers that need encouragement.  I see opportunity. 

Today I choose to see the good out there, knowing full well that God is working all this for His good (Romans 8:28).  Even the stuff I turn my nose at.  You see, my God is bigger than all that negativity out there.  My God can move mountains.  My God can provide.  The mind shift is not easy, but it is so worth it! 

Live that way today.  The choice is yours.