Learning Lessons


I walked into church today and found out that there was no one to teach the children's Sunday School class. Y'all, if you knew the week I had, and the Saturday that followed, you'd know that teaching children was just about the absolute last thing I wanted to do. My nerves were shot and I needed to be taught, not teach, but no one else was stepping up to do it and the kids couldn't be left on their own. So, I roped a friend into helping with "crowd control" and off we went.

As I headed up the stairs to the classroom, I wondered what we were going to teach them. I wondered what I was going to say. I wondered how I would react when they refused to listen or follow instructions. I struggle on a normal day to handle it when kids don't listen, but today? When my nerves were gone. What was God thinking??? Why was there no one else willing to take care of the situation???

I'll admit, my friend tried and did a good job reading the lesson that was next in the book, but we were not getting anywhere. The kids just wanted to do their own thing, and I had my fill of it (this was seriously about three minutes into the experience). I silently asked The Lord what we should do and suddenly I had an idea.

I handed each child a blank piece of paper and told them to draw the sun. It took a minute, but slowly they all started drawing in their own style. Then I had them draw a tree...then birds and clouds. Next, they added their favorite animal, mountains and then finally they drew themselves into their picture.

"How did you know how to draw a tree", I asked.

It took a little bit for someone to answer, but finally one of the kids said, "I looked out the window and saw one."

"How did you know where to put the sun?"

"Because I see it in the sky!"

I continued to ask them questions about their pictures and then I said, I want you to listen to this:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was empty and without form."

I could tell they were not quite getting it, so I said: "The earth was empty. There was absolutely nothing here to look at, nothing to see. So how did God know how to create a tree? Or a mountain? Or the sun?" They didn't have an answer at first, but they were thinking. Finally, someone asked, "because He is God?"

Click! "Yes", I said, "because He is God and He knows how to do things that we can't do. That is one of the many reasons we need Him."

They were listening.

"So, tell me", I continued, "What do you think is God's greatest creation?"

They were thinking.

"Us", said a timid voice.

I smiled. "Yes, each one of you! Just like God knew exactly how to make the mountains and the trees, the sun and the clouds, He knew exactly how to make you. God sat down and thought about each of you, and He knew exactly how to make each of you special, and He did."

The kids, a bit calmer at this point, were paying attention.

"So, if God knew exactly how to make us, and do all the other things we
can't do, what should we do when we don’t understand something?"

“Talk to God”, most of them said with confidence.

Message delivered. Message received. 

We finished the Sunday School class by releasing energy (some for them, nearly all for me) with a rousing round of Father Abraham, a friendly competition of “Praise Ye The Lord, Hallelujah”, and a prayer.

As I thought about it later, I realized that God accomplished a lot in those 45 minutes. He answered my prayer when I asked what we should teach the kids. He gave me the words and ideas I needed to get the kids to hear His message.  He met my need when I said I needed to be taught not teach, because the lesson He gave me wasn’t just for the kids.

The truth is, I felt rather guilty telling those kids that God knew exactly how to make them because I often question why He made me the way He did. I question my struggles. I question my shortcomings. I question why I can’t be “normal” like everyone else. I question why everyone else seems to have life figured out while I just seem to live in a mess of confusion. Still, there I was, telling those kids exactly what God wanted me to know … and it was equal parts amazing and humbling.

You know, sometymes God needs to take drastic measures to get our attention. He lets us go through nerve-racking situations so we can see Him at our wits end. He asks us to do things we don’t want to do because He knows the lessons we need to learn… and relearn.

As for me, well, I learned again today that when I do the things God lays on my heart, and I do them for Him, He always works things out … better than I ever imagined.

The takeaway?

God cares about you … and He will show you if you’re willing to let Him!

 

 

 

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