This past summer i went with my youth group to a summer camp during middle school week as a sponsor. We did some really cool stuff and i was so blessed by the kids that i was surrounded with, but boy was in for a big surprise. I was almost instantly told that i would be responsible for fourteen middle-schoolers. Well, i was eighteen, an adult, i figured maybe i could do it, and let God take control.
One of the things we did is we would all go off in our groups for certain tasks. The first task my kids received was a big one... the cross. So we hiked down this trail with this guy who carried a gun to shoot snakes if need be, which was a little weird, but it's what we had to do. My kids then had to pick a tree. Once the tree was chosen it was then made into a cross. The cross was decently sized and when stood up was probably about a couple inches taller than i was. But it didn't stop there. Our guide then had each of my kids take a turn carrying the cross while describing the horrific condition Jesus was in with His intestines hanging out and he would say things like, "You think Jesus did this for your video games?!" I kind of wanted to slap the guy, he was already forcing them to go beyond their physical limit in the humid summer heat, but to attack them orally as well just seemed terrible.
Yet there was one sweet girl. She, earlier when the cross was being made, had started feeling sick because she was getting dehydrated and the day was so hot. She waited a while to carry the cross, but when she did it blew my mind. She wasn't super strong or anything like that, she was even struggling quite a bit, trying to drag the cross up a big rocky hill. The man in charge asked if she wanted to stop, but she said, "I can go a little longer." This poor sweet girl wanted to push on after feeling like she couldn't even stand just half an hour earlier! The man loved that she said this saying, "Did you hear what she said!?" And he also did something else which hit my heart. He called the kids to look at their shadows as they dragged the cross over the various hills and declines, and he would softly mention "Jesus did that for you."
This girl was probably around twelve years old, and she made more of an impact on me than i ever could on the fourteen of them. Sometimes i have these doubts in my life, but i will recall her words, "I can go a little longer." And God always pulls through for me and the realization that Satan was underlining all of my insecurities and doubts, whispering things to make me feel worthless because he thinks, "Oh! I almost have her!" But i never let go of God. So many things have happened, and without Him i know none of theme would have gone right. I would like to laugh in the Devil's face, because the moment he thinks he's got me i go running to my Father.
I hope if you're reading this you know of God's love for you. Jesus came for the sick, the broken, the untouchable. Satan constantly attacks my insecurities, but in God i know i have rest. Jesus died one of the most cruel and inhumane deaths, and then He rose again! No human love could ever compare to that love, a love that conquers death! I wish everyone could realize the power of God's love, and that no matter how many times we mess up He never gives up on us. Just thinking about it leaves me breathless. Surely i can push on just a little bit longer.
