I think God took my two small fish and turned them into a lunch fit for thousands. No, there are not thousands attending the youth group where I teach–”just” 12 of the most curious, intelligent, polite people I’ve ever taught. I was overwhelmed when I started, terrified of my lack of ability. Three weeks later, however, I’ve never had more fun in my life than when I’m reading three or four different versions of a Bible passage, trying to understand the main points, break them down to present to the teens, and come up with personal, sometimes self-incriminating stories to illustrate. Well, actually, it IS more fun to then take those Bible lessons and teach them to the teens, attempt to answer–or research–their really tough questions, and just get to know them better!
Two weeks ago I donned my bathrobe, which usually gets used whenever I teach Bible stories, and performed a dramatic monologue about the woman with the bleeding disorder in Mark 6. It got the kids thinking, but it also convicted me, as I taught about how His perfect love heals us and overcomes our fears just like He did for the woman and Jairus.
Last week I accompanied the youth group on a retreat to a camp in Michigan–where we sang “the campfire song song” around a campfire, played “carnage duck duck goose,” and had a contest to see who could stuff the most marshmallows into our mouths and still speak intelligibly. During the afternoon we split into teams. The rival team was asked, “What’s the most awesome part of God’s creation you’ve seen so far during this weekend?” The team responded, “Oceans! [never mind that there aren't any in Michigan...] because they’re full of species of fish that God created that we haven’t even discovered yet! Because He’s so creative and so awesome!” My team started yelling in outrage, “Cheaters! Cheaters! You’re quoting what Anna Beth said last Sunday about how awesome God is. Cheaters!” That team got the point in the contest… but they also showed that they got the point of my talk about God’s awesomeness. Oceans full of fish… and He makes my two small fish go much farther than they should reach…
That evening, we sat around a campfire while an amazing guitarist played, and we sang, praise songs. Suddenly a beaver surfaced in the lake 25 feet away–so we ran over there to go see God’s amazing creation. When we regrouped around the campfire, I talked about Peter–Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial, Peter’s denial, and then Peter’s reinstatement on the beach with Jesus over a breakfast of fish He had just helped the disciples catch. As I told the teens the story, I mentioned some of my sins, and asked them to think of some of theirs. What are we supposed to do with these sins? Take them to the One Who fills oceans with countless, colorful fish, and ask Him to take away our sins. At the end of the Bible lesson, we wrote down lists of our sins on pieces of paper, confessing them to God, and then put the papers into the fire. As I watched my lengthy list burn and disintegrate within seconds, I was amazed all over again that He has taken our sins away from us “as far as the East is from the West” (Ps 103:3).
I would love prayer as I continue teaching these teens–
- that God will continue making my two small fish… *ahem* I mean, my time and effort… stretch so much farther than I could ever have hoped!
- that God will give me wisdom as I interact with my co-planners and the teens, making me able to show them how much I care about them.
- that God will use every incident in these teens’ lives to draw them each one step closer to a personal relationship with Him–salvation for some of them, and a constant relationship with Him for others.
Thank you for your prayers!
