12/17/2024
From Thanksgiving until now, I have had Austin Bahm’s voice in my head. I sat underneath his teaching for three and a half years at TBCU during my time in Hattiesburg. He began every Wednesday night with a statement, “I’m Austin Bahm and I *get to* be the college pastor at Temple Baptist Church.” Although this became a running joke within the college ministry, ending in novelty t-shirts, that phrase has stuck with me even as I’ve moved past college and into the workforce.
I work as a middle school English teacher, and any of my fellow teachers or school staff know that the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas break can only be described as hectic, to put it kindly. I have had many days in the last few weeks where I have wanted to hibernate until the next break. It is so easy to get bogged down in our jobs or everyday lives and have our minds shift to “I have to…” “I have to get lesson plans in,” “I have to stay late grading projects,” “I have to make study guides and tests for each class,” and the list could go on and on. However, every time I got overwhelmed and overstimulated, which was often, I heard his voice in my head, “I get to…”
It has reminded me of all of the blessings the Lord has given me and the place that he’s allowed me to serve in. I am not just a middle school English teacher. I am a middle school English teacher who teaches at a Christian school where we have the ability everyday to share the gospel in plain words and with the use of Scripture. I can have lessons centered around Christ everyday, even though I teach English. Everyday I encounter 76 students in my classroom. I have 76 souls who I am responsible for teaching not only English but also the gospel.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 is a highly quoted verse that tells us as Christians what God’s will for our lives is. It is to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” This is a great reminder to us as we go about our lives to focus on what matters and to “not grow weary in well doing,” as 2 Thessalonians 3:13 states. But we also must be mindful of the verses before and after this set. The following verses, specifically 23-24, remind us of who enables us to do these things. We are unable to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances,” without Christ. It is through his redemption that we have the ability to carry out God’s will, and it is through his continual sanctification that we are able to walk in accordance with that will. Yet even when we fail in this life, we can hold fast to his promise that, “He who called you is faithful; he will surely do it.” This is a promise that you will be sanctified completely when you meet Jesus face to face. You will not get it right everyday while on earth, but we set our hope on the One who is coming back again, One who will redeem and sanctity us fully what we have only seen in part until now.
What a blessed hope we have to serve a faithful God who has given us a job to do until he takes us home. We *get to* serve him, we *get to* tell his story, and we *get to* glorify his name among the nations. Let this be our attitude when we meet challenges, we *get to.*