PREAMBLE

PREAMBLE

“Teach a child in the way he should go;

And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

These words taken from Proverb 22:6 speak loudly of the responsibility of parents and caregivers to the children entrusted to them. In these modern days with the advent of such a large and diverse selection of electronic gadgets, our children are bombarded with so many distractions from every direction that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with their spiritual development.

We as adults, often overwhelmed by the demands for survival, are guilty of neglecting our responsibilities of ensuring our children’s growth. We are losing sight of the fact that at this stage children are at their most receptive phase for absorbing information and unless we make an effort to help them, they are likely to acquire wrong information from other sources.

I believe no one is better equipped or better placed to do the job than the parent or the caregiver. By making use of every opportunity to teach the words of Jesus Christ, to read the Holy Bible as well as by setting personal examples we can build our children’s faith and offer them alternative examples to live by. In this way we can prepare them to deal with the many and varied temptations they will face in life as they go forward.

These stories under the banner “The Old Lady and Ana” grew out of a discussion I had with my cousin Starr Sabga during which we lamented that our children are not being exposed to reading and discussing the bible as we were. We both felt that as a result of this we are missing a very important opportunity to expose them to God’s words and running the risk of losing them.

The stories are strictly my interpretation of selected passages from the Bible based on my Christian education and on my own life experience. They are meant for the younger child, as examples of how we may use day to day experiences to learn about God’s word. They are by no means exhaustive but I trust they may serve to get other parents and caregivers to do the same.

If this happens, then I would consider myself fully rewarded.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

15. THE OLD LADY AND ANA-PSALM 54:1-7(Trust in God)

Ana listened intently, as her Uncle Fred related his problems to her father. People were spreading bad rumors about him and as a result his business had suffered badly and he was worried that he might lose it. Yet he was calm and kept saying that he was not worried and had faith that God will provide an answer as he promised in Psalm 62:



“My salvation and my honor depend on God;


He is my mighty rock, my refuge”.
Ana was worried, she knew her uncle was always a kind and faithful person who spent his whole life helping people and never ever said anything bad about anybody. She could not understand why people are so wicked. But she marveled at how calm he was even with all that was going on. She sought out her Grandmother, who she hoped will help her to understand.
“Gramma, can you please explain how Uncle Fred could remain so calm and confident when so much bad things are happening to him?”

The old lady, sensing an opportunity to teach her grand daughter on the ways of the world beckoned her to come sit next to her and opening her trusted bible said:

“Let us see what God has said about trusting him in times of trouble;”
Then turning to Psalm 54 she began to read slowly and deliberately:



Save me, O God, by Your name,


And vindicate me by Your power.


Hear my prayer, O God;


Give ear to the words of my mouth.


For strangers have risen against me


and violent men have sought my life;


Ana sat up immediately, eyes wide open she held her grandmother’s arm and exclaimed knowingly:
“Gramma, that is exactly what Uncle Fred was saying about wicked people wanting to destroy him!”

The old lady smiled and nodded affirmatively, then continued reading:



They have not set God before them.


Behold, God is my helper;


The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.



The old lady paused a while and then spoke:
“This is what your Uncle Fred was also saying. These people were not concerned about God and that is why he was not worried, for he had faith in the power of of God to protect him from them”


Sensing little Ana’s concern, she continued to read from her bible:


He will recompense the evil to my foes;


Destroy them in Your faithfulness.




“You see Ana, his promise was clear. This was how he will reward his faithful. Not only will


he make the bad people pay for the evil they have done, but is prepared to destroy them and


what they stand for”.



Ana thought for a moment and then looking at her grand mother she remarked:
“Now I understand why Uncle Fred was not looking so worried about his future. He must have a strong faith in God at a time like this, because he keeps thanking and praising God for everything”.

The old lady obviously pleased with the child’s insight, replied:
“You are quite right my child. You must never forget to give praise and thanks to God in all things. So often we ask God for help and then do not pause to thank him. Listen to what the rest of the Psalm says":



Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD,


for it is good.


For He has delivered me from all trouble,


And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.



“He does not hesitate to give thanks and acknowledgement to God for delivering him from his enemies. But notice the last line, even though they were trying to destroy him, he still looked kindly on his enemies, meaning that there was no hate but love for them. This is what Jesus came on earth to teach us. This is what makes a good Christian.”

As the old lady closed her bible, she quietly thanked God for this opportunity to teach her grand daughter his words. Ana stood up, hugging her grand mother as tight as she could, whispered to her:

“Thank God for you and for Uncle Fred and all the good people in the world.”
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