The Filing Cabinet

This video was shown at Crossfire, the church youthgroup, last night and I'm still dwelling on its message today. Surrender. Forgiveness. Freedom. Grace. Living new. The message of moralism is "You need to" or "you should" The message of Christianity is "you must, but you can't" Only Jesus can.

Wide Eyed: Chapel, 9/18

Wide Eyed: Chapel, 9/18

Students entered the sanctuary noisily as quiet music played in the background. Chapel was starting, and it did not seem like anyone was in the mindset to be there.

Our Spiritual Life Coordinator and beloved Bible teacher went up to the stage first to settle the students, remind them of proper chapel etiquette, and share a little bit more about what the Christian pledges meant. Then, to everyone’s surprise, another teacher got up from her seat and strolled up to the stage as well. “I also have something to say about the pledges..” This teacher wanted to train students in pausing at the right times in the pledges, so that we could say the pledges in unison, as they were meant to be delivered. Granted, it was good practice for the students to, but this was the chapel service that I had planned out minute for minute, and I had packed the service full without pauses. This was not on the schedule!

I began to shift nervously in my chair as I watched the minutes tick by. I knew I had a tight program planned with a video, songs, sharing, and even special music, and I wondered if I should run over and tell the worship band to cut one of the songs.

As I was contemplating this, God brought to mind one of the passages from John 14:27 that I had been reading and praying through last night. I turned my worry into intense prayer: Please let this ALL work out.

The pledges continued, followed by the Panamanian National Anthem (4 stanzas with the chorus 2x), and student announcements of all the birthdays of students in middle school and high school, basketball game times, etc.

The “Light Shines” video came on directly after the announcements, just as planned, and I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing this crucial piece of technology work without a flaw. I looked around and saw even the most talkative students mesmerized by the cadence of the narrator’s words.

The video ends on a very passionate note, and the PLAN was to have the worship band start right afterward, taking that enthusiasm and transferring it to standing and praising the God of the Universe, whose light still shines.

In actuality, the lead guitarist/vocalist’s guitar amp stopped working and, taking their cues from this guitarist, the rest of the band was unsure of if they should play or wait for the soundboard guys to figure out the problem and solve it. I gave them a cue-don’t worry, just play!

The band started off, unsure and just a little bit off from each other, having been thrown off their game with the technological malfunction. People must have been thinking, “Oh no, Lord help them.” Well, whoever prayed (whether if they were in the sanctuary or somewhere else in the world) made the difference, because just a few minutes in, the musicians found their place and the beautiful harmonies and well-known choruses returned. The songs in order were: Everlasting God, YouAre My All In All (which also happens to be my favorite worship song AND they sang some of it in Spanish which made it even more powerful), and Our God.

The worship band did an incredible job leading the secondary group, and a large group of students even started clapping during the last song! A visible testimony of God at work.

I was up next. During the worship time, I rehearsed in my head what words I would say and reminded myself that this whole chapel was God’s idea in the first place. So A) If God promises He will work, He will work no matter what. His words will never return void. (Isaiah 55:11) and B) God gets all the credit and the glory and so in the end it won’t be how good of a speaker I am or what I choose to share, but what God wants to say personally to each and every student who came to chapel today. I especially relished in the promise of the last worship song, “Our God is Greater, Our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. Our God is healer, awesome in power. Our God.” Our God is here.

The last notes of the guitar reverberated, and I climbed up on stage to grab the cordless mic. I smiled and faced the students, ready to share my carefully crafted introduction of the chapel theme. But my voice only reached the first 2 rows. The microphone wasn’t working!

Used to the impromptu days as a teacher, I adapted to the situation and just projected my voice so everyone could hear. This was fine for me, but I knew my soon to come up student speakers spoke just a little bit more timidly and would need to use the microphone. I held the microphone closer to my mouth as I welcomed my student speakers to the stage. I prayed with urgency in my heart, “Please help this mic to work, Lord. I don’t want them to miss out on hearing these student’s stories.” But the mic’s sound only went in and out.

The three speakers, representing 11^th, 7^th, and 6^th grades, came forward and sat in the chairs next to me. I’m not sure if they could tell anything had gone wrong with the sound. I passed the mic to the 11^th grader to kick off the testimonies time. Prayers were answered a second time, as the microphone worked the entire time all three students shared. Praise the Lord! Not only could the students hear, but they were interested. I noticed a good handful of 6^th-11^th graders that were visibly leaning forward in their seats, captivated by these unique God stories.

To begin, the Junior shared that God was the only reason why he was standing in front of the school at that moment. First, the Junior had to be standing. Second, he had to be in Panama and, last, he had to be at CCA. This captured the attention of all the students in the room. What do you mean you couldn’t stand? That’s so basic. But The Junior went on to elaborate on his three points. Because when he was a baby, he had to have surgery, and doctors weren’t sure if he would ever walk. Because of God’s infinite grace, this Junior is walking, jumping and even running without any problems today. The Junior went on to explain how God had brought his family to Panama in an unexpected way and even to Crossroads Christian Academy, out of all the schools in Panama. What an incredible testimony about God’s sovereign plan in our lives.

Next, the 7^th grader, shared his story. It takes a lot of guts (tuvo muchas agallas) to stand in front of a whole sanctuary full of people, especially if the audience is made up of your peers, and especially if you happen to be in middle school. Yet, this 7^th grader stood confidently, firm in his identity in Christ, and spoke clearly about three specific instances where God literally saved his life. Perfect examples of everyday occurrences where we can recognize God at work!

And last, but not least, came the shortest student of them all, the 6^th grader. The 6^th grader came to me before chapel and confessed his deepest fears, “I don’t know if I can do this, Miss Diaz.” I knew his story was powerful, and it needed to be shared. I reassured him, “God is with you. He will help you.”

The 6^th grader’s moment had come. He stood to his feet, gripping the microphone and staring out at this group of students who were waiting expectantly for his story. He took a deep breath and began:

“A few years ago, my mom got really sick. We found out she had terminal cancer. She had to get treatment and she lost her hair and it didn’t help. The doctor told us she would only live for 6 more months.”

The 6^th grader paused, remembering the moment, and his eyes got wet. Students looked at each other and then back at this 11 year old, trying to imagine the pain this news must have brought his little heart.

He continued, “We were all upset and prayed and prayed for God to save her and God was with us. God allowed her to live a whole year longer than the doctors said. She got to write about everything on a blog and share about how God answered prayer with lots of people.”

Listening to his story I knew what was coming next, and I passed the 6^th grader the tissue box. He refused, blinked a couple of times and carried on through the hardest part of the story.

“She died in 2011 and it was really hard without her. But she was a Christian and she taught me to keep having faith and trusting God in all things. So we’ve been trying to do that. This year, we moved to Panama and sometimes it’s hard but I’ve learned that in everything I can trust God.”

He lowered the mic and a teary-eyed audience gave him the loudest ovation I think that sanctuary has ever seen. After the applause died down, there was a somber stillness in the room, and I hated to break it. I gave the 6^th grader a thumbs-up and a side-squeeze, while I tried to hold it together. The fact that an 11 year old could stand up in front of a crowd and share honestly about his life and extract some profound spiritual truths from a world-shattering experience just floored me. It made me reflect again on my day-to-day teaching ministry with these Middle Schoolers. God is working so powerfully in their lives and teaching them truths they will stand upon their whole lives. How often do we ask them for their stories?

We could have ended chapel right then and there, contemplating God’s faithfulness and sovereign plan. I wrapped up briefly by sharing about the power of prayer, the power of recognizing God’s powerful work in your life, and the power of sharing your OWN God-story.

The worship band closed with a beautiful rendition of “WideEyed” (Nichole Nordeman), a contemplative song about God showing up in unexpected places. And a High School Senior prayed before dismissing the students to their classes.

Just thirty seconds later, the bell rang for the end of chapel.

I imagine that if Jesus had been standing next to me, he would have surveyed the room and smiled, satisfied with His work. Then he would notice the surprised expression on my face and nudge me jokingly with his elbow, “Why did you worry? You know, I always have perfect timing.”

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The afterthoughts:

 

Three lessons I’ve taken away from this experience:

1) There is power in obedience (what went from a crazy-middle-of-the-night God-inspired thought transformed into an amazingly powerful chapel time).

2) God is sovereign. So stop worrying. No really stop and give it to Him.

3) God can use ANYONE. Even a four-feet tall 6^th grader.

4) There is power in sharing God-stories.

Go share yours.

Also I learned today that the 6th graders' parents (both mom and dad) picked out CCA as their school of choice around 5 years ago, but CCA didn't have room at the time. Now, the dad gets to honor the mom's wishes and send the 6th grader to CCA and, not only that, but now this 6th grader is standing up in front of chapel sharing about what God has done in his life and really its a celebration of how God brought him here.