If you’ve had a child in our Kids Ministry for any length of time, your side of it likely looks like lollipop sugar highs and incomprehensible fractions of Bible stories. Our side looks like specifically scheduled rotations in each service, each rotation designed for each age group to develop social skills and learn about Jesus in different ways. One would be quick to assume that the kids get the most hectic in their classrooms, but in reality, this happens in the hallway. The hallway is where we transition from one activity to the next. From your child’s perspective, it’s when we take away the toys and seemingly change from being fun-loving to tyrannical. But the reality of it is that our heart for those kids never changes, we love them and just want to give them every opportunity to know Jesus we can. It’s obvious to us when we look at our children that the changes are for the best, but we lose that simplicity when we apply it to our own lives. The hallway is just as intimidating to adults as it is to the kids, not only because it’s in the midst of transition, but because we can’t see our next destination.
Familiarity is the enemy of awe, and the lack of awe is the enemy of faith.
Ecclesiastes 3 states, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”, but Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” So how do we reconcile the necessary vulnerability in the transition while reminding ourselves that God’s heart for us is the same throughout? We intentionally remind ourselves who God is. When I read the many miracles that God performed, I’ll catch myself limiting my comprehension to what He did, not what He’s doing. Familiarity is the enemy of awe, and the lack of awe is the enemy of faith. In losing our awe in who God truly is, we detach ourselves from the miracles God performed and it decreases our faith that He will do them again. Losing our faith in God, is losing track of who He really is. When we lose track of who He is, it’s that much easier to forget why He’s bringing us from one season to the next.
Another way to have peace in seasons of transition is to remind yourself, not just of who God is, but of what He did in your life. He has been something different to each of us, a fortifier to the weak, a Father to the orphaned. When you are able to remember that, you can remind yourself of that because He’s done it before, He will do it again. The kids in Kids Junior go from their classroom to Kids Theater for one of their rotations each week. These kids are younger, so they don’t always remember exactly where they’re going, but they remember that they had fun the week before.
In the song, Oceans by Hillsong United, we sing about walking out into waters where we can’t stand on our own, but that our faith will stand. I want to challenge you to take a step past singing a song and proclaim that your faith will stand over every aspect of your life.
