hard questions
"My great-grandma has cancer. Why did God let that happen?" A girl, maybe 10 years old, asked me this with tears in her eyes at the start of tonight's campfire devotions.
The kids were telling me the story of Joseph, how his brothers threw him in a pit, faked his death, and sold him into slavery. And how God made him in charge of Egypt.
"Joseph's journey wasn't fun," I said, "But the Bible tells us 'God meant it for good.'"
Which was followed by the girl wanting to know how it could be good that her great-grandma has cancer. And a room full of 8-12 year olds sharing the names of their family members and friends and classmates who have cancer, are going through chemo, have died, or have survived. A few of the kids had raised money through Relay For Life events, and another did Hoops For Heart.
I told the girl with tears in her eyes the only thing I could. "I'm sorry about your great-grandma. I don't know why God let it happen."
My plan for the evening was to talk about how God is with us, even in the hard times. Only the hard times I was going to tell them about were things like my boyfriend breaking up with me, feeling lonely when I'm in another country where I don't speak the language, or being tired when I've hiked 10 miles and still have 2 to go.
We still talked about how God is with us, even in the hard times. Only the hard times were cancer, death, serious injury, feeling like God is a million miles away, and how to handle our questions and anger and doubt.
I didn't have any answers for their hard questions, but I left feeling like I had been faithful. It is His role to give us strength and comfort and hope, and it was my role to share the Scripture that I had written down and put in my pocket earlier in the day, long before the hard questions were raised:
EMBRACE HARD QUESTIONS.
Before I left camp for the evening one of the coordinators said to me, "Thank you for listening to them." Whether or not there are answers, we should always make space for the questions.
The kids were telling me the story of Joseph, how his brothers threw him in a pit, faked his death, and sold him into slavery. And how God made him in charge of Egypt.
"Joseph's journey wasn't fun," I said, "But the Bible tells us 'God meant it for good.'"
Which was followed by the girl wanting to know how it could be good that her great-grandma has cancer. And a room full of 8-12 year olds sharing the names of their family members and friends and classmates who have cancer, are going through chemo, have died, or have survived. A few of the kids had raised money through Relay For Life events, and another did Hoops For Heart.
I told the girl with tears in her eyes the only thing I could. "I'm sorry about your great-grandma. I don't know why God let it happen."
My plan for the evening was to talk about how God is with us, even in the hard times. Only the hard times I was going to tell them about were things like my boyfriend breaking up with me, feeling lonely when I'm in another country where I don't speak the language, or being tired when I've hiked 10 miles and still have 2 to go.
We still talked about how God is with us, even in the hard times. Only the hard times were cancer, death, serious injury, feeling like God is a million miles away, and how to handle our questions and anger and doubt.
I didn't have any answers for their hard questions, but I left feeling like I had been faithful. It is His role to give us strength and comfort and hope, and it was my role to share the Scripture that I had written down and put in my pocket earlier in the day, long before the hard questions were raised:
"Do not be afraid or discouraged.
For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
- Joshua 1:9
EMBRACE HARD QUESTIONS.
Before I left camp for the evening one of the coordinators said to me, "Thank you for listening to them." Whether or not there are answers, we should always make space for the questions.
Well done, Katie. The ministry of presence does not require answers... just love and care and God.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is giving the space for the tough questions and just listening is the hardest thing. My oldest niece is in your group of kiddos this week, growing and learning. Thank you for listening, for leading, loving, sharing, and learning from the tough questions.
ReplyDelete