Topic: Foolishness & Faithfulness
Scriptures: Matthew 4:7, 1 Timothy 2:13, Micah 6:8
Yesterday, one of the boys fell 3m out of a tree…and that is just the start…
Notes:
The Bible verses are included below, but it is more beneficial to read any verses from a Bible – or better yet, have the children read from their own. We recommend the New Living Translation (NLT) which is easy to read but very accurate. If you don’t have one please let us know as we may be able to help.
This is not an actual activity that we did as a devotional. If you plan to do the activity described below – please contact us – we’ll join you 😉
Description:
Yesterday, I was called to attend one of the boys…who had fallen out of a tree. Looking at his injuries it looked like he’d fallen about a meter. But he’d fallen over 3m – head first – after a branch snapped! Nothing broken, and not even any deep cuts.
When we talked at dinner time about ‘things we had learned today that would help us throughout life’ his answer was ‘I learned that God protects us’. He had learned through experience that God really does protect. It wasn’t someone telling him, it wasn’t ‘just’ a verse – but it was a real knowing. No one will ever be able to take that away from him.
It led to a discussion that I have had going around my head since we got bogged in the waves on the way to Lancelin last week.
To set the scene, we had embarked on a trip to try to make some much needed money. That fell through while we were in Ledge so we decided to go to Lancelin to the skate park for a treat. Sharmini was still unwell – only managing an hour out of bed before being sick again – but we didn’t plan on being long…Why not go along the beach? I checked the tidal information but for some reason it wasn’t available. I thought I’d have a look & if the tide was low we’d go otherwise head back to the main road & go up that way.
As we drove down the dunes, the waves were a fair way out – so I kept going. But as we went further along the beach narrowed, got more and more soft until it was evident we needed to let the tyres down. We did so, then set off again, now on the edge of the water. The sand was quite hard under the waves, but up on the beach it was soft and on a steep angle. We stayed just in the water trying to dodge the waves as much as possible. The occasional wave splashing up the side of the car – but not an issue.
After a short while, we got bogged and decided to let the tyres down a lot. We took a photo, ran around, had some fun, let the tyres down more, dug the car out then set off.
The fun begins! The first time we were bogged it wasn’t that serious – fun in fact!
We hadn’t gone too far when, while moving at around 30KPH in low range, 2nd gear with high revs, the car stopped nearly dead in it’s tracks & sank into a section of what I can only describe as quicksand-like sand. Even walking on it you sank to your ankles! I felt like the captain of a ship that was about to go down… “vessel lost – 7 souls on board all safe”! 😂
We were in ankle deep water on one side – shin to knee deep the other. The waves came in regularly and were above the bottom of the door. The car had sunk to the belly and it seemed obvious now the tide was rising…
Now some will see that we were here because of me being unwise (cough cough Sharmini cough) – does this mean God can not or will not help?
I knew this was pretty serious – (no photos this time!), just had to work as hard as possible to get out – and then maybe abandon the car and watch it get flooded! We let the tryes down as much as we could (6-7psi!) and there just ‘happened’ to be a full size shovel left in the car from some recent job…the boys dug at each wheel, fighting the waves as I tried to dig the diffs and suspension out. Each wave filled the trenches in but eventually we were ready to try to get out. The first three attempts were futile – the car didn’t move at all the wheels just spun. But then on the fourth attempt I rocked the car with the clutch and slowly, very slowly it started to edge forward.
As momentum gained I steered down into the waves, got up speed and drove up the beach before the next wave hit – easy! With the tyres so low, we made it easily to Lancelin along the beach. We had a great time and lunch with no more dramas until we got back on the tarmac. A suspension part had broken leaving the car shall we say, interesting, to drive on the way back. This cost us about 30 minutes but no money to fix thankfully.
That night we talked around the table about God and what we had learned today. One of the children said ‘I learned that God helps us when we’re in trouble’. ‘I prayed that God would help us when stuck and He did’
Wow. Again – through the journey of life, from (potentially) failures, He is showing the kids by experience that He helps, He is in control and He is faithful. How could I deny them that? We simply must go for another drive along the beach soon…
If you know me you’ll know that I didn’t see this as foolish and would probably do the same thing next week. I learn slowly but God is gracious with me.
A couple of scriptures that deal with some of these things:
Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God. ’”
(Matthew 4:7 NLTse)
This is the main lesson for me – the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude must never become a ‘God will get me off the hook’ type of mentality that tests God or presumes. But we must also see that in everyday life there are far more dangerous situations where He can and does protect us – while driving, using power tools, with chemicals – all sorts of things. It is easy to look at anything that is new or not known as dangerous scary or ‘unwise’ to attempt. But in reality our very hearts need Him to keep beating – is our attitude one of faith or fear?
If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny who he is.
(1 Timothy 2:13 NLTse)
This sums up what at least one child learnt from this expedition. No matter what happens, no matter how you got here, God is God. His very nature is faithful – it’s not something He does – it’s who He is. It reminds me of a well known verse in Micah:
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8 NLTse)
He loves mercy. He loves to forgive! His very nature of love is, shows and reflects this love of mercy. So much so He selflessly let Jesus be tortured and die a criminals death on the cross so He could forgive. What an amazing God!
Oh Lord let me be like that!
* No animals or children were injured in the making of this story.