Let me just say... I LOVE and am so thankful for how the Lord points out things for MY life while I am teaching the kids. Maybe something the Lord showed me will help you, too.
I have, but at the same time not, thought of how Moses was being prepared for the huge job of leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt. Then, as I was teaching it, I began to see how God had to deal with the same doubts with Moses when he was by the burning bush as the Lord had to deal with the Israelites as they wandered through the wilderness.
I was teaching about how God tests us in our lives, just as Moses was tested, because He knows the bigger picture and can see what the testing does for us. He can see how our testing will cause us to be able to use that for His glory.
I had one of my students thoughtfully ask, "Well, if God already knows what the testing will do, why DOES he test us?"
I knew how to respond in an adult way, but to help the children understand it on a more simple and tangible level for their age, I didn't have the words to say. I began looking in my Bible for Scripture to share with him and the rest of the class, but I couldn't find what I was looking for because I was used to finding it in my Bible at home.
I don't think it was that reason at all, actually...
I think the Lord chose not to reveal the Scripture to me because He had a better visual in mind.
I told the little guy who asked the question that I would continue searching and would help him understand it as the day went on because I knew I had to get to teaching the other curriculum.
Well, wouldn't you know it... a few minutes later, right in the middle of something as ordinary as Phonics and Language, God revealed to me how He wanted me to explain testings in our lives.
We began talking about diamonds. Something I was teaching led perfectly into talking about diamonds and it flowed as if I had planned it long ago.
To this moment, I have no idea how it began. I even had one of my students ask me a bit later in the day how we got started on diamonds and I had no answer. I just said that it was because God wanted me to share it.
I began sharing with my students how we are all like a diamond in the rough. I went to the computer and I showed them what a diamond looks like after it has been mined. It is not the most beautiful thing. In fact, it looks like a regular old rock.
It takes the skillful hands of a master to cut the rough edges and old blemishes away so that the diamond can reflect light from different angles.
I showed them pictures of a diamond after it had been cut and got the "oohs" and "aahs" from the kids. They loved how it shined and sparkled.
I still knew I needed to give them further understanding... a more hands-on visual even though I knew they couldn't actually handle a real diamond at that time.
I began searching on YouTube for a video showing about diamonds and how they are cut. I loved this video and the kids did, too. They were very interested in the whole process. I thought I'd share so that you could learn a bit, too.
What I found here was truly a beautiful picture of what the Lord does for us as He cuts away our own ugliness to reveal His glory beneath.
We are hard.... just like the diamond. Sometimes it takes a lot of testings to get us to change.
Those testings are like the cuts of facets on the diamonds.
The diamond cannot change on its own... the cutting is hard but is done in such precision to gain the most beautiful reflections from the light.
That is what God does for us. Our times of trials are hard. They are not pleasant and seem to take a long time. However, what we become because of the cutting away of our old selves reveals a far more beautiful reflection of Who Christ in our lives.
Just as Moses had to be cut away so he could be used by God to lead the Israelites, so are we as we face testings that will allow us to be so much more beautiful. God sees that... and that is why He chooses to test us even when He knows the ending. He knows it takes those testings to bring forth His glory. He knows that when we are shining for Him, we can be used by Him to help others in the same way.
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