Sometimes teenagers can be highly annoying! They can be downright obnoxious. If you are the parent of a teen or if you work with teens, you know what I mean! But then, sometimes they can be the biggest blessings of your life.
God used an amazing group of teenagers this weekend to pierce the hearts of adults at Riverside Christian School's annual dinner theater. I'm assuming all the other adults in the room were as touched as I was, but I can only speak for myself. I knew the night was going to be good when the title of the one of the skits the kids were performing was titled, "More Coke". Since I'm a Coke addict, I knew I'd be in for a treat! Who says God can't use ANYTHING to speak to you?!
Lately I've been struggling. I've been struggling with the thought that God's blessings will eventually run out. I've lived a blessed life. There have been some ugly moments, but blessed still yet. Embarking on an adventure of giving it all up for God, I feel that His blessings are going to eventually cease and we are going to be screwed! Please tell me you have felt that way at some point in your life, too! I know I'm not alone here! I've also been struggling with the idea of a lost identity since I'll be giving up my job of being a children's minister when we move. That's been my identity for the past 6 years with my church. Well, let me tell you a little bit about how God met me through the mouths of teenagers in a dinner theater and cleared up any doubt that had been festering in my mind.
My daughter, a budding actress, was cast in a skit that will forever change our lives. She is on stage with Jesus talking to Him about how she has a hard time trusting Him. So, Jesus tells her to turn around and fall into his arms, you know..the Trust Fall? We've all had to do it at some team building event in our lifetime. So, she eventually falls backwards into Jesus' arms realizing how easy it is to trust Him when He's right there and you can see Him! Then Jesus tells her to face Him and now fall backwards. Her trust is then tested because no one is behind her to catch her! Why would I fall back Jesus? You are not there to catch me?! Trusting God when things He asks you to do don't make sense to you. Well, by the end of her act, Michael and I were at our seats with tears streaming down our face. Thank you, God, for speaking to us through our daughter. But also, thank you, God, for speaking to our daughter through that skit. That skit is what made her realize that moving away from her comfortable life in Grand Forks to go where God needs us next was the next trustworthy step. Wow. God works in such COOL ways! They aren't really mysterious...just extremely cool!
Other skits showed me that God's goodness is not going to run out. God is faithful and true and can be trusted over and over again. Another skit spoke volumes to me that whatever I have, God can use. My identity is found in what I give over to Him to use. My identity is not found in what I have BEEN for years, but it's found in what I offer up to Him to use. Tears, tears, blowing the nose, wiping the eyes. Get it together, Becky! Okay, a few breaths and I have it all together, until they start playing that song, "Your love never fails, it never gives up, IT NEVER RUNS OUT ON ME!!" Seriously, God? I just got over the tears and here they come again.
He is relentless in His pursuit of us. That relationship is what He is wanting from us. And He will do anything and everything to set us straight, to get us to trust Him, and to wrap His arms around us. Later that evening, my family was watching The Bible on DVD. Jesus goes up to a disciple and gives him a big bear hug. Alex says, "I'd love to have a Jesus hug." Tears again. I can be a blubbering fool! :) But I was just relishing in the fact that I had spent a whole evening in the midst of one big Jesus hug that those amazing teenagers delivered to me. Thank you, kids, for doing something that you'll never know the impact of. Man, God is so good.
God IS awesome. What a cool skit, wish we had seen it!
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