Preparing and Equipping
Rebekah Harkins
Corrie ten Boom in her book, The Hiding Place, reflects on her life and explains how in her childhood, she didn’t realize it at the time, but the Lord was preparing her to face the terror of persecution in a Nazis concentration camp. In such deep darkness, in the valley of the shadow of death where it would seem all hope would be lost, she had hope and God’s Word. Her parents introduced her to Jesus as a child as they read the Bible around the table every day, as they worshipped faithfully, as they welcomed the outcasts into their home, and as they loved each person that came into their clock shop in Amsterdam. For Corrie and her sister Betsie, knowing Jesus, knowing his faithful promises, and knowing his Word made it possible to endure suffering. Their hearts were in a place of thankfulness for how the Lord had prepared them for it and led them through it.
One of the greatest gifts of children’s ministry within a church family is getting to prepare children’s hearts and equip them with the very things that Corrie ten Boom learned. Teaching children the words of life in Scripture shows them how to live life for him. As the Lord calls children to himself and shows them who he is by the power of the Holy Spirit, we get to walk alongside children as they get to know him and to love him. We are truly preparing them for their journey of faith right now and for the future to be saints together running the race of perseverance. There’s an older popular Christian song that I’m reminded of when thinking about this- “Knowing you, Jesus there is no greater thing. You’re my all, you’re the best, you’re my joy, my righteousness, and I love you, Lord.” That simple song is in a way a prayer at the center of ministry to children. May we teach and equip children’s hearts to face whatever is ahead and to stand firm on what is true. There is no greater thing than to sit at the feet of our Savior and deeply know him.
We can pray that the testimony of our covenant children would be, like Corrie, one that says “See how the Lord was preparing me!” and “I can look back and know that he led me in the green pastures and by the still waters!”. To know him means that you know his voice, you know his hand working in the world and in your life, you know the depth of his forgiveness and grace because you have seen your neediness and weight of sin, and you know his heart of amazing love (How can it be?). To know him means to share in his suffering, to be like him, to be found in him, to know the power of his resurrection and count everything as loss in comparison (Philippians 3). May we show to children the beauty of Jesus as the overflowing cistern of springing eternal life and for them to see him and love him in all his glory against the backdrop of a dark, temporal, broken, and fleeting offerings of the world. If you know the Lord, you know concretely of the blessed assurance that you belong to him and in belonging, you are “filled with his goodness and lost in his love” which is the joy that always accompanies the knowing him. Our prayer for our covenant children is, “Lord, would this be their story and their song!”.