Teach them to seek Me.

I had the privilege of teaching the 5th & 6th graders this past Wednesday night, and it was quite an awesome experience. God was all over it, which is so amazing to me - that he could use someone like me to reach into the lives others...incredible!

Last week we had talked about worship and prayer time. My friend had done a pretty incredible demonstration of what her time is like in her prayer closet, just worshiping and praying and praising God. It was pretty powerful, and it was clear that many of the kids had been impacted by what they had seen. So, she thought that a good follow up to that would be to talk about the kind of music they listen to.

But God had a different idea. Last Monday I was in prayer, just going on about all the stuff I wanted to talk about, when He broke into my ramblings and spoke something very clearly to my heart. My pen and journal were right there, so I grabbed them and started writing. This is some of what He said:

Teach them to seek Me. Without knowing Me, they cannot love Me. If they do not love Me, surely they will not cling to Me; they will turn away from Me, and many, once they've turned away, will not turn back. Break the idea that a relationship with Me is for sometime later in life. Now I AM. Now I am here. Now I love them. Now I am waiting.

I was overwhelmed! A lot of times when I feel God speaking to me, it's through His word or through discernment of circumstances, situations, emotions, etc. He gives me ideas or guidance, but often it comes in much smaller installments. But sometimes it seems He will just open the floodgates and let loose- or maybe He's wanting to do that all the time, and I'm just not listening? Anyway, this was definitely one of those times. As I listened to Him, and as I wrote what He was saying, I was just trying to keep up. He even gave me Scripture references, which was very cool - and I discovered that a few of them were more for my own sake than for anyone I would be talking to.

He said, Tell them that what I want from them is a relationship. Show them the heart of a worshiper - show them David. Then tell them your own story. Tell them that it's okay to ask Me for help.

How cool is that!? How amazing to get a glimpse of His heart for these children - kids that I see every week. How awe-inspiring to see how much He longs for them to love Him, He desires to show Himself to them. When I think about it, even now, I'm completely moved by His love and His tenderness toward them - these kids who may never have known even a moment of tenderness, or even an instance of pure love. These are kids who are, in many cases, really troubled, living in awful family situations, getting little or no positive attention, or any attention at all, from their parents. These are kids who many adults have already written off as problem kids who will go nowhere and be nothing. And to see that God has not for an instant written them off! Oh, how I love Him! It gave me a fresh perspective on reaching out to these kids and being a consistent source of love and support in their lives.

The teaching went really well. It flowed smoothly. I spoke with ease. It was a blessed evening, for sure. But the greatest thing about the whole night was a conversation I had with one girl at the end of the evening. She's one of the 'worst of the worst' when it comes to tough cases. She has always carried an attitude, and put up walls, been a little resistant and defiant. At one point, one of our leaders had even suggested telling her she couldn't come anymore because she was so disruptive. But attitude or not, she still comes regularly. And whether she likes it or not, she's still sitting under the Word of God for 20 minutes a week. It's not a lot, but it's plenty for Him to work with.

Well, while we were all hanging out, having pizza and pop, she came over and sat down next to me. She looked me straight in the eye and said, 'Rebecca, I'm afraid to die.' She didn't hesitate. She didn't waiver. I could see in her eyes she was plain freaked out by the thought of it. I could tell to that it was a good kind of afraid. God had definitely gotten a hold of her heart that night, and she didn't know what to do with it. We talked about it, and she told me she was afraid of what will happen to her when she dies. She's not yet to the place that she is ready to make the commitment to God, but it's awesome to see Him working in her heart! And it's awesome that she feels comfortable enough to talk to me about it.

I'll keep praying for her, and for all of our kids, and I'll continue to rely on the promise of God's Word that His Word will not return void, but that it will accomplish all that it was sent forth to accomplish. That's a sweet promise and a great hope for these kids! I pray that they will open themselves up to Him and take the time to get to know Him!