Floods, fears, and faithfulness

One of the great things about Home School, is being able to take time to answer questions that might relate to the topic but are not THE topic.

For example, this morning my daughter and I were reading about Noah's ark and the flood, but that lead us to the book of revelation.

We were reading about the floodwaters starting and all the people left behind because they were wicked. I asked her to consider how frightening it must have been for Noah's family. I can just imagine people screaming and running, realizing how true Noah's words had been. Realizing it was too late. They had listened for 100 years and never believed. Few people actually stop to think of this moment in history and how tragic it really was. I told her it will be much the same when Christ returns. People think they can wait until the last minute to make things right. It will be too late. This provoked her to ask about some things she had read in the book of Revelation. She said it was frightening. I TOTALY agree.

Keep in mind that she is 10 years old, but she has always been a deep thinker. The book of Revelation is complex and I don't have all the answers. However, I told her that the entire book can be summed up in two words--God Wins.

People on Earth are obsessed with taking sides. Democrat or Republican. Liberal or conservative. This team or that. This school or that. When it comes to God, however, people often think of God as the one choosing sides. We like to put Him in a nice box and use Him to justify our motives by proclaiming that He is on our side. We are foolish people. God cannot be contained, nor does he chose silly sides. God IS a side. YOU must chose to be on HIS side. We are to follow HIS rules. He created us, not the other way around.

I try not to be "hell fire and brimstone". Yet, there are things that need to be told. There are MANY joyful things we focus on but today was sober.

My daughter was stirred by what we had talked about. She said she was afraid that she wouldn't make it into heaven. She welled up with tears and and we hugged tight. I stroked her hair and thought of how much I was like her at that age. I remember the fear. Even as adults, we fear. Don't worry, I didn't just leave her afraid.

She has been baptized and takes her Christian walk very seriously. So, we talked about grace and mercy. We talked about Gods immeasurable love and His amazing grace. Even as adults we have a hard time wrapping our minds around the mercy of God. Even as adults, we fear death. Christians should not fear death, if we are faithful. Christ defeated death. If we follow Him, he will save us from deaths sting.

Finally, we talked about how important it is to teach others about Gods love, so others don't have to fear anymore. Others need to know that these things are real. We all need to share the good news with others.

After our lesson, we prayed together. We cried. We hugged. Then I tickled her ribs and she giggled. We smiled and with hope in our hearts set back to work. I pray you have hope in your heart.