Just Obey

I have been asked to teach Sunday School for the children at Echoing Hills as well has teach at
camp. I always say yes without much thought. As the time approaches, however, I start to realize the
responsibility it is to teach from God’s Word. I am intimidated. Who am I that I should teach? There
must be someone who is better at this than me. James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” What if I portray the wrong impression or say the wrong thing? What if I bore the children? What will the other leaders think? The more I think about what to say, the more I realize that I don’t even know where to begin.

My first Sunday here, I taught from Exodus 3-4 (God speaking to Moses from a burning bush).
When I was preparing to teach Sunday School last week, I planned to continue with the story, but reallyfelt like I needed to help explain the holiness of God. As I studied the passage and the preceding
chapters, I became so grateful for Moses, and his many questions—I am not alone in my fear of talking in front of others!

Below is my paraphrase of God’s conversation with Moses:

    God: “Go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go and worship me.”

    Moses: “Why me? Who am I?”

    God: “It doesn’t matter who you are—I will be with you.”

    Moses: “What if they don’t believe me?”

    God: “It’s not up to you, whether they believe or listen—it’s up to me. I will show them with a
    sign.”

    Moses: “I’m not skilled enough—I can’t talk.”

    God: “Who gave you a mouth anyway? Who gives any skill after all? I will help you speak and
    teach you what to say.”

This is the message that I needed to hear. I was still super nervous, feeling the weight of sharing God’s Word. I started praying that God would do as He pleases with the lesson. If He wants me to teach, then He should give me the words that I should say, as He did with Moses.

When it came time to teach, I did not say what I had prepared. I was prepared to continue the story in
Exodus, but I felt pressed to talk about God’s holiness. “Take off your sandals for you are on holy
ground.” As one child asked a question, I realized that I must explain gospel. God is holy. I made the
comparison of pure water. As there is no dirt in pure water, so there is no sin in God. Because God is
holy, no sin can come near Him. However, I sin every single day. “How can I come near God?” I asked the children. Through a series of questions and answers, we eventually came to the conclusion that only through Jesus’ sacrifice, we can be made holy. Jesus’ blood washes away our sin and He gives us His holiness so that we can enter into God’s presence.

By talking with the children, I think a few of them actually understood. I pray that Jesus will continue to make Himself known to these kids and that they might follow Him with their lives.

What I’ve been learning through this experience is that when God gives me a message or a task, it’s not about me, me being skilled, or even if the audience believes what I say. It’s all about the Lord, my God. He will make Himself known—through me or not. But He wants to use me, so I just need to obey.