Out of the mouth of babes...

Mom and Dad, I want to share with you what your teenagers said in Sunday School class today. As part of our lesson I had them randomly draw pieces of paper with different scripture passages listed on them. Then I had them silently read that story and share something new they learned from it.

Your son—the one that you think may not go on a mission but pursue an athletic scholarship instead--randomly drew the story of Gideon selecting his troops for a battle against the Midianites. (Judges 7). After reading it, do you know the impression he shared?

“I found it interesting that Gideon started out with 32,000 soliders but the Lord said that there were too many soldiers--because if they fought the Midianites with that many, they might say ‘Mine own hand hath saved me.’ So God told Gideon to tell the soldiers that anyone who was afraid needed to go home and 22,000 men went home. That was alot who were afraid and left.”

Then he said this, “But, I guess that’s probably a good thing they went home, because if you are afraid you’re a liability to all the rest; and the Lord can’t really use you because you don’t have the kind of faith He needs you to have to work a miracle. If you want to see miracles in your life, you can't be afraid. You can't let fear chase you away. You have to have faith.”

And your daughter, who has life-long health issues, randomly drew the second half of Gideon’s story about surrounding the enemy with trumpets and lanterns. She said she immediately thought of how a trumpet is on top of the temples and the light of Christ rests inside them, and if we remember to declare His truth with a trump of God and let our light break forth from deep inside us where we sometimes want to keep it hidden, then we can conquer the enemy—no matter how numerous they are or how small we are. "The temples will help us surround our enemies and win our battles."

And your other son, the one who is struggling with peer pressure, drew the story of Peter walking on the water. (Matt. 14) This is what he said:

“I found it sad because Peter got distracted by what was going on around him and lost his focus on the Savior. If I was in the presence of the Savior I wouldn't want to look anywhere else but at His face, yet Peter didn't do that. He started looking at the waves and the storm and everything that was going on around him. Even Peter found a way to be afraid in the presence of the Savior, and that’s when he started to sink. I think, sometimes we can be like that. We can be right there, right where the Savior can reach out and touch us, but we forget that and we start looking at everything else. We should always look straight at Him and then we won't be afraid when He asks us to do something, even if it seems overwhelming, like walking on the water.”

And your son, who is so quiet that you find it hard to see inside his soul, was asked to share a new impression about the story of Eli and the boy Samuel (1 Samuel 3). “I thought it was neat that each time the Lord called him, Samuel got up and went to Eli. He didn’t just lay in bed and call out and say, 'what do you want, Eli?' He actually got up out of bed and went to Eli’s room. You have to be a very faithful person to get up and go every time you’re called—especially when it's the middle of the night and you’re tired and doing something else, like sleeping. So that tells me Samuel was faithful and very willing to do what was right even if he was tired and wanting to sleep and I want to be like that.”

(By the way, I found that quiet son of yours at the church the other day because he was following an impression that he needed to go there, even though he didn't know why. Yes, he is already showing signs of being faithful like that and is willing to go and answer the call of the Spirit, even if he doesn't fully know why.)

So, Mom and Dad, you’re teenagers are doing great! If you ever want to know what is stirring down inside their souls, all you have to do is ask me, their Sunday School teacher. I will tell you you are raising some great children. They are aware of the individual struggles they are facing and they are finding the Lord's voice in the scriptures as it speaks to them. So, keep loving them. Keep praying for them. Keep teaching them and doing what you are doing. It's working!