Monday, August 23, 2010

Trusting God for the Growth

Sometimes in Children’s Ministry there are days when the team walks away from a Sunday morning thinking, “What just happened? This morning was crazy! Did these kids learn anything?!” These thoughts cause us to lean closer to God, asking him to continue to move in the hearts and lives of the children we serve. You see, their growth is out of our control. We can’t change kids. Only God is in the life changing business. We have to trust that seeds are being planted into the lives of these children and God will bring the growth. I’m reminded of a passage of scripture from 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 where Paul is setting the people of Corinth straight on a few things regarding the church.

I planted the seed, …but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

It’s easy sometimes to get caught in the trap of believing everything hinges on what we do and teach instead of asking and believing God for the change. I can’t change kids, but I can pray for them. They are young, I won’t always see the change in their lives, I have to trust what Proverbs 22:6 promises me.

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

Notice the "when he is old." I have to laugh because I want to see the change now. To be honest, I want to see it yesterday. In His time. And sometimes, God will throw us a bone…evidence of the change.

This past Sunday, our theme was secret service. We asked the question, “What in the world are you doing that only God knows about?” You see it’s easy to do things when you know you will get praise or recognition. We challenged the kids to serve others in the way Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter six. We asked the kids who would like to be a secret agent for Jesus. Their mission was to do things for others without telling them, as a way to serve in love. In addition, we taught the kids that Jesus says their reward will come from God. And then it happened.

I received a text from a mom:

I know it’s 9:00 but my son (who is in kindergarten) just cleaned his brothers room and made his bed. He says he’s a secret server and I’m not supposed to give him a prize. Awwww!!!!! :)

I replied:

That is SO awesome! Thanks for making my night and sharing that with me!!!! God is good!

The mom added:

I wish I could have gotten him on video b/c he really did it in secret. I thought he was playing in his room. It made my night too! Yes God is good!!!

There’s one thing I know about this mom, she is fervently in prayer for her kids. She knows she can’t change her kids. But she has hope because she knows the One who can. Lord Jesus, help us to continue to plant Your seeds in the lives of our children and help us to trust you for the growth. And bless the secret server kid BIG TIME, increase his faith in You.

2 comments:

the McCormick family said...

Awwww! love it!

Anonymous said...

Great post, Diane! It made my night all over again. :) It's true, we have to trust God to grow the seeds. Not just in our kids, but our spouses and loved ones as well! <3

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