Tough Questions!

God is moving here, and I am seeing it. I never doubted that God was doing awesome things here, but I feel privileged to be able to see tangible glimpses of the things he is doing both throughout the school and within my classroom.

Over the past week my kids have surprised me. Their questioning has become unreal, and at times, intimidating. I never thought that the questions of a grade four student could have me stop to think so much. During devotions they have been coming up with questions that seem far beyond their thinking level, and they nonchalantly raise their hands in a grade four manner (waving it wildly and sometimes saying "Miss Chrissy, Miss Chrissy" as they do) and unleash these questions. I will give you some examples.

We were discussing Noah's ark after we went through the story of Cain and Abel, and one of the quieter boys in my class raised his hand. This was his question: if God knew everything that was going to happen, why would he even create people in the first place if he knew he was going to kill them off? All of the sudden I found myself going back to the creation story and breaking apart this question. This devotion time took a completely different route than I had ever imagined and I found myself struggling to put an answer into simple grade four terms for them. 

A few days later we were discussing the salvation story and I was talking about how Jesus came to save us from our sins. They all seemed to understand this part, but then one of my girls raised her hand: Why did God send Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sins... didn’t God sin first when he murdered everyone and sent the flood? Isn’t he just sending Jesus to save himself? But how can he save himself if God and Jesus are the same person? After this question was asked I sat there a little bit stunned that this was coming out of the mouth of a fourth grade student. I didn't even know where to begin in answering that one. 

Now picture this little girl who adamantly does not believe in God and is strictly Buddhist. She is grinning from ear to ear, because to her this is a competition and she has won. I never thought I would be discussing deep theological issues with fourth graders. I am learning so much and continually researching these much debated issues to bring them answers at a grade four level. They listen to what I say, but they don't have the capacity to respond to what I have said and talk back. Although their questions come at a much higher level than their grade and age, their ability to understand the whole conversation is not quite there. That presents an extra challenge though, because you can't delve into something and talk it out with them. I have told them that I am so proud of their critical thinking abilities and that their questions are phenomenal. I am shocked by the connections that are being made in their brains with the things we are discussing in class. This is proof to me that God is working in them, even if it is in the form of asking tough questions. They are mulling through things that have been said and remembering details. They know the stories and have understood at more than a surface level, because they are able to talk about the details and relate them to other events. 

I am so proud of them, and even if they are making me nervous daily, I know it is good for me (and them). I am being stretched and I am getting to know the hearts of my students more and more each day.