Encouragement in unlikely places

In the battle with discouragement we all sometimes fight, I am often amazed at the unlikely sources of encouragement a gracious God sends our way.

One of the unlikely sources of encouragement for me lately has come in an inadvertent way from one of the difficult things have done: end my teaching for a time. I think I have felt confirmed in my calling to teach for a long time, and even known it was something I had a knack for. However, in having to give it up for a time, I have watched others struggle to step into my place, and discovered, much to my surprise, that things that are natural and easy for me, are not so for others. God has graciously pointed out that I really do have something to offer the students I teach, and the parents I serve. Who would have thought that giving up what I love to do would encourage me to keep doing it? God, of course.

The last week or so, as I have considered my teaching obligations, I have mostly felt burdened and overwhelmed. But just today, for the first time, after real rest for a few days, I can sense God's encouragement seeping in, and I can believe that one day in the future, I will be ready to teach again. It's just not yet. Right now I have to get my poor old body unstressed and revived a bit, and that takes time and quiet. But somehow, knowing it won't be forever, is an encouragement, too. It has been bleak for the last week or so, to feel no end to my burden. Today, little signs of hope are resurfacing, in unexpected ways. I am thankful for that encouragement.