Children never cease to amaze me. They really don’t. I have found myself amazed for the last few weeks by a seven year old in my Sunday School class. I will admit, all of my Sunday School youth class members are pretty amazing. However, this seven year-old girl has me speechless from time to time. This past Sunday we talked about being down and having bad days. We talked about how even in our bad days we can find something good to keep us going and to help be a witness for God. We read the different scripture passages and I asked for a volunteer to share their interpretation of what we read. The seven year old said simply with a huge smile, “Well, I can tell you what I think it means to me. Don’t let the bad stuff take away all your good stuff!”. Blank stare. I asked her to repeat it. “Okay,” she said. With emphasis she repeated, “Don’t let the bad stuff take away ALL your good stuff!”. Do you know that simple sentence summarized six wordy verses? The rest of the youth in the room nodded in agreement, giving their approval and I stood still arrested by the innocence and sting of truth from a child. The verses we read came from 2 Corinthians 4:7-12. It says:

“If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!” (The Message Bible)

Don’t let the bad stuff take away all your good stuff! You can do this!