My Capacity to Fail

I teach our large group sessions for 5^th and 6^th graders on Wednesday nights at church.  It was never my intention to work with 5^th and 6^th grade.  In fact, last year in August, I had decided I was going to take the year off from teaching on Wednesday nights and join a women’s bible study as I had just finished my cancer treatments and thought I should have some time to recover.

The Lord had other plans, and I listened.  And let me tell you, I am completely crazy about those kids! This IS my mission field for this season of my life.

But this past week I was really struggling to get a handle on what we were going to talk about at large group.  Our theme was “tell others about Jesus” and the Bible story was about Paul witnessing to Festus and his royal buddy, I can’t remember his name.  Planning for those large group sessions comes fairly easily to me, and when this one became a struggle, I went straight to the Lord and asked Him what was going on.

And The Great Teacher laid it out for me what we were going to do.

Scared the socks off of me, because it required no planning.  And I wrote to my leadership team about what we were going to do, and nobody replied.  Freaked me out, and I started to panic.  What if it all failed?  What if it was a miserable flop?  My capacity to fail that night was sky high, and I was not feeling very confident.  So I just went to The Lord in prayer.  A lot.  Just in constant communication with Him, and all I got was affirmation to do it the way He said to do it.

So we got there Wednesday night, in a room packed with kiddos and this is what we did.

We opened with a worship set as usual.  Then we showed a video of a young North Korean girl telling her story about how her father had been killed in North Korea for talking about Jesus and that The Lord was preparing her to go back there and do the same thing.  Then each of our adult leaders gave their powerful testimonies without any coaxing.  Even the new guy who didn’t get the email “heads up” gave his testimony.  Then we broke into our small groups, and gave each kiddo a chance to tell their story, pick the one that was most impacting, and then those kiddos re-told their story about how Jesus has affected their lives back in large group.  There was not enough Kleenex in our small group room, let me tell you.

And then seven boys accepted Jesus right there.  On a Wednesday night when I hadn’t planned a thing.  I’m sure the look on my face must’ve been ridiculously entertaining.  I have never been in a room where 7 people got saved at one time.  And I saw that happen on a night that I thought would be a failure.

And I was reminded that although my capacity to fail is absolutely saturating, The Lord’s capacity to fail is NON-EXISTANT. 

His plan is always perfect, Beloved!  Lay yourself down, and let Him work.

Tending to the Broken

Lately, I seem to be collecting people with broken hearts.  Don't get me wrong, it is not a collection that I am creating myself.  It is a collection that comes to me that way.  A friend whose husband of 52 years passed away.  A friend who was hurt badly by another.  A friend whose husband left her.  A friend whose child is quite ill.  A friend who lost a job that he tried so hard to keep.

And more recently, we have collected two short people who were taken away from their family for a time.  Their hearts are broken.

So I have rolled up my sleeves and become the hands and feet of Jesus.  Ministering to the broken when I myself have only recently experienced healing.

Our family digs in with all we have during this season of our life.  Some days we do it well.  Some days we do not.  Nevertheless, we give it our all.

And I am so glad that our two foster kids have run to us for comfort.

Because the broken do not always run to you for comfort.

Sometimes the broken run to you, but only to hurt you (because somehow that eases their own pain).

Sometimes the broken run away from you (because they don't want to face their own pain).

But no matter what the scenario is for the broken person in your life, the bottom line is that they are broken.  And there is only one healer for the kind of broken they are.

Jesus.

No other name.  Not even yours.

Just Jesus.

So in those sad moments when these two precious short people pour their broken hearts out to me, I hold them close and whisper in their ears.  You are safe.  It's going to be OK.  Jesus holds you tight.

And I can't even count how many times I have sung to them "Jesus Loves Me".  And I praise The Lord that when I sing that song,  and they hear that they belong to Jesus and that He is strong, their little bodies relax, and they start to breathe deeply.

Because only Jesus can heal the broken.

We just get to assist.  Are you tending to the broken in your life?