Oh, To See It Grow

“Can’t He show His power some other way? Without people dying?”

She hadn’t really wanted to join the circle. Preferred to stay by herself up against the wall. Gave a “pass” when her turn came to offer prayer request. She whispered to the girl beside her throughout our group discussion, turning a deaf ear to life-giving words.

But when the conversation turned to a local boy recently killed in an automobile accident, her fidgety form grew still in the faint light of the candles.

We’ve been doing this every night this week: circling up, knee to knee, offering our hearts to each other and to God.

It’s Vacation Bible School.

And these tweens, these “in-betweeners”—no longer our littles who like to play games, but just shy of grasping the satisfaction in a deep discussion of all things Holy—these tweens have left me bone-dry and overflowing all at once.

The question was, “Why do you think God let’s bad things happen?”

They all had thoughts to offer.

One young one said this: “If people didn’t die, we wouldn’t know God very well. It makes us closer to Him.”

And we talked about how bad things show us God’s power. How He can overcome all things.

That was when she spoke up.

It didn’t make sense to her. This young one who has seen too much for one her age. Who is such a strange brew of toughness and vulnerability.

If God has the power, why doesn’t He just end all suffering now?

“Because it’s all part of a bigger plan,” one boy offered.

Our answers bounced off her shrugging shoulders, and soon she was texting a friend during the discussion again.

But she kept coming back.

We are planting seeds.

Only He can make them grow.

Tonight is our last night of Vacation Bible School. Pray for changed hearts, my friends. These kids are our future.