Singing in the Darkness
I called the kids into the kitchen for a quick word of prayer before we spooned out the Sloppy Joes and headed to the front room. We’ve been studying World War II and tonight was movie night.
While the kids found seats on the floor and snuggled into cushy chairs, I pulled up a folding chair behind the couch and began the movie.
Like a time machine, it is only minutes before I am transported from my chair into a concentration camp, a battlefield or I’m dodging SS soldiers with a secret message.
Of course, I am sitting in the safety of my home and every adventure leaves me unscathed.
That’s the power of a good book, a good movie, and I might add…part of the fun of studying history.
We put ourselves in their shoes and ask, why did this happen? What would I have done? Would I have succumbed to the despair around me? Or would I have sung in the darkness?
I look at my students and their eyes are glued to the screen.
I wonder if they are thinking what I am thinking. With so much going on in the world, what does the future hold for them? What words of wisdom can I give them? The more I thought about it, the more I realized they need the same words of hope that I need!
As I prayed over it, three thoughts came to mind.
1. God is everywhere and He sees everything. Psalm 139
Everything that happened in the concentration camps, God saw and God was there. He knows what our neighbors are doing, and what we are doing even when no one else sees. He knows our thoughts. Every injustice and every hurt He sees!! As Betsie said to Corrie at Ravensbrück, “there is no pit so deep, that He is not deeper still.”
2. God loves us. This is so key to remember. God loves us. Romans 8:28-39
I made copies of the passage above and distributed it to the class. We stood up and read together. “God works all things together for good…if God be for us, who can be against us? For we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. He spared not His only Son but delivered Him up for us all. There is nothing, I repeat…nothing, that can separate us from God’s love!!!”
Years ago, when I was a nanny working my way through college, I had to discipline Karen who was seven years old at the time. She ran from me and hid under the bed. I had to reach under the bed and grab her leg to pull her out to confront her with what she had done. She cried saying, “you don’t love me.” I held her and told her I did love her. It was much easier to let her go. The fact that I took time to correct her and hold her was a demonstration of my love!!
I explained to the students that sometimes we don’t understand God’s love, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us. When you love somebody, you give them your best toy, stuffy or whatever you love the most. That’s what God did. He gave up His only Son!! No matter what happens, we can always be confident of God’s love. We need only to look at the cross!!
3. Lastly, we must trust God with what we do not understand. Isaiah 55:8-9
There is much suffering in war. There is much suffering in life. We are finite and God is eternal. Only He can see the ultimate end of every thought or action. Because He can see what we cannot see, we must trust Him with what we do not know.
When I was a teenager, my mom refused to let me go to a party that my friends were attending. My friends asked if I was mad at my mom. I thought for a moment, then said, “no.” They were shocked and asked me, why not? Though, I did not understand why she said no, I had learned over the years to trust my mom because I knew she loved me. Looking back on that moment, I realize that my mom had helped to prepare me for the difficulties of life and my walk with God.
Even though I do not always understand why things happen as they do, I have learned that I can trust God because I know He loves me!!!
After putting together my thoughts and sharing it with the class. I found myself encouraged by the very words I meant to encourage them!!!
We have an election around the corner and a lot of things going on around the world. How important to remember God sees everything and He loves us!! And per chance, if things don’t turn out exactly the way we would like, God is still on His throne and we can trust Him with what we do not know.
The book finished, the movie done and I ask myself, how did they sing in the night? Now I know