BEATING A DEAD HORSE
Every week I do a Bible class for the teenagers in Tshwaragang. This is an orphanage where about 40 children live. A nice place to visit; the children have a place in my heart. Fatherless children, motherless children and children who can no longer live at home due to other problems in the family. A lot of sadness!
Today I discuss the third commandment with the children. How holy is His Name! But it seems like none of the kids are listening. One is almost asleep, the next is distracted by noise, the other is busy with… It feels like beating a dead horse. I can't seem to get any attention, so I decide to keep my Bible class short, but powerful.
When we close the Bible class with prayer, my prayer goes more or less like this: ‘Lord, I cannot bring it into the hearts. Will You forgive the sins in listening (or not listening) and will You put the words into the hearts of the children and let them have a powerful impact?’
But then after the Bible class a number of children come to me... with questions about the Bible class. ‘Can you explain again what it means that we are not allowed to use God’s Name for our own honor?’ And, 'Teacher, how can someone be converted?’
Embarrassed, but also happy, I drive back home. I only went by what I saw, but the Lord works invisibly, hidden from my eyes. Yes, He goes on with His work, because He has promised it! To me it can feel like ‘beating a dead horse’. But He makes the dead alive through His Word.
‘Lord, would You make my orphans alive as well?’
Nella Verschuur
