Lessons from Kid's Church for the teacher...

Sometimes it can be a challenge to teach in Kid's Church - especially if it's a story the kids "think" they know. They want to tell the story and never slow down long enough to hear it...today I was challenged with teaching the story of the conversion of Saul, a story most of us know very well. 

In an effort to find a way to help my kids understand this story in a fresh way, I learned something that is worth sharing.

We all know in our head that no one is so bad that God can't change them, right? But as I studied today, a phrase struck me. Saul was raised in the Jewish faith and "knew" it better than anyone. I bet when they ate around the table at night, he recounted on how he had "shown those stupid Christians a thing or two." They probably laughed and toasted over each perceived victory. 

Yep, it's pretty hard to change someone who goes home each night to a reinforcement of wrong...that's when it hit me...but it's NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

As a teacher, at times we grieve over our students who go home each night to rest their heads in a place where rest is not to be found. Sometimes it's a place of sadness, heartbreak, need, anger and even violence we know nothing about. We worry that we can't make a difference when we have them a few hours a day and then they go back into an environment of chaos that to them is "normal" and "right." Much like, I'm sure, the Christians thought there would never be a change in someone the likes of Saul. But there was.

As an educator, a mom, and a child of God, I sometimes I fall into the "I know they can change but it seems impossible with the circumstances they face." But nothing is impossible for God. Nothing. 
I need to ask God daily to remove the scales from MY eyes so that I can see what He can do in a life, no matter the circumstances. 

So there you have it - thoughts from Kid's Church, where very often the teacher learns as much if not more than the students.

Acts 7: 59-60

As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, “Master Jesus, take my life.” Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, “Master, don’t blame them for this sin”—his last words. Then he died.

1 Saul was right there, congratulating the killers. (emphasis mine)

Acts 8:3

3-8 And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail.

Acts 9: 1- 19

9 1-2 All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem.

3-4 He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?”

5-6 He said, “Who are you, Master?”

“I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”

7-9 His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn’t see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing.

10 There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: “Ananias.”

“Yes, Master?” he answered.

11-12 “Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He’s there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again.”

13-14 Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.”

15-16 But the Master said, “Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.”

17-19 So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, “Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal.

Photo by Adrien Taylor on Unsplash

Waiting for the other shoe to drop...

Today's random thought will be kind of long since it has been on my mind for about 3 weeks now...

As I was growing up, I thought if I did what I was supposed to and was a "good" Christian, then things would go "right" in my life...it didn't take long into adulthood to figure out this was NOT the case. After all, in the Bible, it does say that in this world we will have tribulation...

As I grew in understanding, I realized that not only would I have tribulation, the more I served God the more of a target I would become for the enemy! Even if I did nothing, the fact that God loves me makes the enemy hate me! This resulted in a life of waiting for the other shoe to drop...no matter how good things were going, I knew that just around the corner an attack was waiting. Yeah - not really conducive to peace.

But the past few weeks, I've been thinking about the story of Elisha and his servant from 2 Kings 6, beginning at verse 8. You can read this in its entirety at the end of this blog but what follows is a "Donna synopsis" of the story.

In the Bible, it says that Elisha was serving God, doing what God directed him to do and warning the Israelites of the enemy's moves before they happened. This, as you can imagine, did not sit well with King Aram of the Arameans who was at war with Israel. He thought he had a traitor in his own camp, but one of his men let him know that the problem was this guy named Elisha. So, understandably, King Aram decided to "get rid of" the problem and said, (vs 13) “Go, find out where he is, so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” '(Pretty sure this didn't mean Alabama...) (vs 14) "Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city." See, the plan was to stop Elisha.

Early the next morning, Elisha's servant got up and went out of the tent, I'm guessing to make coffee. What he saw terrified him! He ran back in and woke up Elisha (notice that Elisha was so at peace that he was asleep!) and in a panic told him they were surrounded and asked, "What shall we do?" ( think it probably had a few extra exclamation points...more like, "WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!?!?!?!?!?!")

At this point, I imagine Elisha yawning before saying, "Don't worry. Those who are with us are greater than those against us." He then prayed that God would open the servant's eyes so that he could see what Elisha already knew was there. When he went back outside, what the servant saw was fiery chariots surrounding them, basically standing between them and the enemy. The rest of the story is equally amazing, but I wanted to focus on this part - Elisha was at perfect peace because he knew that he was surrounded by God. He didn't deny the army that was there, he simply trusted that God had a plan and would protect him.

So there it is - the other shoe drop. In life it's not that I have to worry because there will be trouble, it's that I can be at perfect peace and enjoy each day because when the trouble comes, God already has me surrounded. I know...amazingly simple, but it took God opening my eyes to see the truth. 

He's got you covered...enjoy each day and do as He directs without fear.

2 Kings 6: 8-23 

8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

12 “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

19 Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.

20 After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.

21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?”

22 “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash