Valley of Dry Bones

I have been watching Season 5 of The Chosen. There is a scene where Jesus is walking through Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones. The implication is that for these bones to live, Jesus must die on their behalf as the unblemished Passover lamb. Jesus can choose to live and save himself, or he can die and bring those bones to life. I know – that is heavy stuff.

Some of you in the education profession have a God given gift. That gift? The power(given by God) to bring life where only death exists. I have a post already written which tears apart the system of data that we erroneously use to judge our students, teachers, administrators, schools, and school systems. But before I release it(if I release it), I wanted to write to those educators who don’t kneel down and worship at the altar of data. I just want to remind you that we have a much more important task before us. That job? Preach the Good News.

Satan would love for you to think that you are only numbers. Even more, he would love for you to believe that you are some random concoction of cells and sinew. In fact, you are no accident. Each of you are valued immeasurably. He knit you together. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. But what Satan seeks to destroy, God will protect. Jesus promised that His spirit will never leave us.

John 14: 12-14 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Do you believe what that verse says? Do you really? I do. I believe there are educators who heal in God’s name. I have witnessed this. I know that this will make some uncomfortable, but others reading this will nod in understanding. I have seen educators heal students. I have seen them heal families. I have seen terrible trajectories turned to the good. I have also seen families bless teachers, and change them in doing so!

Hear me on this. There is no metric which can measure the impact that an educator makes when they provide hope to the hopeless. There is no metric which can measure the impact of an administrator who stops and listens to a parent who has no power, no money, no standing…but that administrator treats that parent genuinely as an equal anyway. There is no metric which can measure the impact of a teacher who shows a student they indeed are capable of great things when all that student has ever known is failure. There is no measure of the life changing effects of a teacher works with a student with a lifelong behavior problem, and shows them that they are valued, can have/maintain friends, and helps that student find peace. There is no metric for a staff which goes home at night secure in the knowledge that their principal will treat them professionally and will be there for them in their darkest hours. Folks, those are Kingdom moments.

I want you to know this. If God is using you to further His kingdom, Satan is going to do everything possible to impede God’s work. You will be called every name in the book. You will be hated by some. The work God is doing through you will be devalued, demeaned, and degraded by the world. Just remember that Jesus went through the same thing.

Matthew 10: 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Now to be very, very clear…we must guard against the Messiah complex that has entrapped many educators. We are simply workers in the vineyard. We are simply laborers in the field. We are servants and nothing else. We are nothing without Jesus.

Matthew 9: 37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Every, single student data point which is collected is going to pass away. Every rating, every evaluation, and every single word of data conference minutes…will simply pass into oblivion. But the work that we do in Jesus’ name will endure. The work which cannot be measured is the work that lasts. Read that one last time. The work which cannot be measured is the work that lasts.

Keep harvesting. Keep doing things in the name of Jesus. Keep good counsel of those who will remind you of what matters. It ain’t gonna be easy. There are gonna be days when you feel like Elijah up in that cave where he thought he was the only one left. Nope. He has got you. The God who made the sun stand still in the sky for Joshua is able to thwart any evil scheme.

The One who defeated death on a cross…He is enough. His mercy is enough. His power is enough…

…To bring those bones back to life.

ProTip: We used to bring back our college seniors to speak to our elementary students. Before it became a roast in later years(don’t let it go there), there were thank yous, imparted wisdom, and heartfelt memories shared. During one such instance, a young person got up on stage, and stood behind the microphone. They began a tearful story of how a teacher at my school (not me) had taken time to teach them despite their lack of initial willingness. They shared that they had now been accepted into college, and they wanted to thank their elementary school teacher for the skills they had learned. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. This young person had been a handful at one point, but now standing before us was a person speaking with strength, boldness, conviction, and gratitude. That moment won’t show up on a school improvement plan. It won’t show up on a state report card. But the fact of the matter is this, a life was changed for the better.

Dry bones come to life.