Sanitized Bible

I've been helping out with another camps vacation bible school partly because the really needed our help but also particular to watch how yet another place does it. As a bonus, the are doing the Same High Seas adventure that we are doning. So I, in my role as running things, I had to step back and be a helper. I thought I would enjoy this... but on no. I realized rather be the hands on person who can mentor and support a team of leadership who can then support the kids. There are always a few kids who like to wander or to mouth off and strangely enough beside me they don't do that. So those children come with me which works and gives me one on one time, which is probably best. Also I found it frustrating to being a person of ideas helping out in a situation where i was not informed previously of our duties. And so I sat thee most of the time of how I would run thing differently but also gave me a chance to hear the stories being taught.

And so here become a problem of the world that I have to solve rather urgently too apparently.... how do we each children Bible stories. We sanitize them. We show that Noah was a righteous man of God who made a lapse in judgement with Ham. And David was a man of God's on heart - yet he ordered hurrenderous crimes out of sheer lust. I listened to the teach one of the days of VBS and it is no cricism of the leader because they are following the script. But... "God always protects us" does he? For years I prayed that God would deliver me from my enemy. May be God did protect me from what was worse... maybe God protected my soul. But he didn't protect me against what happened. How do you say to a child that ultimately, God will protect your life - your eternal life and the he will never leave you. But that GOd will not necessarily protecting you from loosing your loved ones, health, broken hearts, family problems, addiction and abuse. Even if you pray. He may allow us to go through these things and in his sovereignty is bringing it to further grow and impact his community. Is there not a way to tell it as it - God loves us. We will go through times. We will feel that God has abandoned us. God may protect us when we pray for portection.

But I know that there is one little girl who is devastated for having prayed every night and believing that God would protect her. And he didn't. To this day this little girl is working out her faith journey as many are. But this one remains a puzzle for her.