Sidewalk Chalk: What I learned on strike

Last Tuesday, at 3:50 in the morning, I received the greatest news I'd heard in a very long time.  The BC Teachers' Federation and BC Provincial government had reached a tentative deal to end the 3-month long (which was really 18 months of negotiations) strike.  

It was the worst three months of my life. Full stop.

I have never felt so useless, helpless, and frankly unappreciated.  I am honoured to be a teacher and chose this profession because of its important role in society. While on strike, I felt as if my role did not matter to my employer.  People on the street would make impolite hand gestures (you know the ones) and yell things like "go home! Get a real job!"  I can not count the number of times I came home in tears.

Trust me, I would've gone to work at the snap of a finger.  

Nonetheless, I realized fairly quickly that I would not survive these three months of being on strike (June 13-Sept 18 inclusive) unless I found a way to learn about God's character from the experience and grow in wisdom.

So, here's briefly what I learned. I had a lot of time to think so hopefully these thoughts are somewhat developed:

1) God uses suffering to teach us how to rely on Him. This may sound like a fairly common observation to most people.  Nonetheless, this was made painfully obvious to me when I literally had to rely on the generosity of my church, friends, and family in order to eat and sleep in my home. I relied on the kindness and graciousness of my flatmates in order to make arrangements that would make paying rent easier.  I was forced to rely on God to provide employment when no one would want to hire a striking teacher during the summer months.  Nonetheless, when so much was taken from me, God taught me that He will not be the type of Heavenly Father that hands me a serpent, but instead be the loving Father that knows each hair on my head and provides for each need. (Luke 11:11)

2) Humility.  It's quite difficult to be arrogant when you're standing on a sidewalk, not earning any money, and hoping for a resolution to a labour dispute over which you have very little control.  God showed me that I must be humble enough to accept the generosity of other people. Often, I was too ashamed to accept gifts of money or food.  Halfway through the strike, however, I simply thanked the person as sincerely as I could and promised to return the favour if ever they should need it in the future.

3) Hope. "Do not put your hope in princes or sons of men, in whom there is NO salvation." - Psalm 146.  This lesson was made clear to me each time I would check Twitter, hoping against hope, that the BCTF and the BC government were finally getting along. Each time, I was disappointed. When Sept. 1 hit and we had NO contract, I was crushed.  Nonetheless, God showed me that when I put my hope in Him, I will never be disappointed.  God used this strike to show me what the object of my hope ought to be.  Again and again, it is His Son, the Lord, that proved to be only source of true hope during this time.

4) Generosity.  I was taught generosity by the example of people who showered me with love during this very arduous time.  Between my family and friends, I have never seen people simply just rally together so lovingly to assist me.  This has been an area of my own heart that has needed transformation.  I've always been slightly careful with how much money I give away and have often expected someone to give something back to me in return.  Now that the strike has concluded, I continue to pray that God will remind me of how His saints were generous to me during this time.  May He give me the wisdom and compassion to be the same way to those around me in need.

5) God's goodness.  Throughout the labour dispute, God just kept pouring blessings upon me.  He provided me with some part-time work in the summer which kept me slightly afloat.  At the very end of the strike, I was fortunate to receive extra financial support from my union. Moreover, my bike was stolen during the strike but was found (TODAY!) and I can return the one I had bought to replace it.  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." - James 1:17.

In Eastern Christianity, suffering is viewed as a blessing from God because of what it teaches us.  I can affirm that this is true.  While I do NOT wish this sort of labour dispute upon anyone, I "bless the Lord" (Psalm 103) because this has taught me lessons to which my heart had been previously hardened. Glory to God!