Better Than Toys

By Andrew McChesney

Several friends gathered around Mariah at school on Monday.

“What are you doing after school?” one asked.

Image © Pacific Press

“Can we come over to your house to play?” said another.

Mariah shook her head. “I have so much to do today,” she said

Nine-year-old Mariah was a busy girl in Pond Inlet, a small town located on an isolated island in the Canadian Arctic. Every weekday she went to school and did her homework. She also helped her parents around the house. On Sabbath, her family read the Bible and watched online sermons at home.

But Mariah’s friends really wanted to play with her. On Tuesday, the children gathered around her again, and on Thursday and Friday.

“But when can we come over to your house to play?” a friend asked.

“How about Saturday?” said another. “You must have time on Saturday.”

Mariah’s eyes lit up. She did have free time on Saturday. “You can come over to my house and join our Bible study on Saturday,” she said.

Her friends looked confused. They had never read the Bible. But they wanted to spend time with Mariah, so they agreed to come over on Saturday.

On Sabbath, a few friends showed up at Mariah’s house. As Mariah read from the Bible, they looked confused. They had never heard about the God of the Bible. They again looked confused with Father turned on an online sermon. They had never heard a sermon, and they did not understand the Adventist preacher. Afterward, they asked Mariah to explain.

“What did he mean when he said that?” one asked.

“Or what about when he spoke about that?” said another.

Mariah tried to explain the sermon and to simplify it. When she finished, her friends seemed to understand what she was attempting to say.

At school on Monday, several classmates asked Mariah’s friends what they had done at Mariah’s house on Saturday. “We read about God in the Bible,” answered one. “And we watched an interesting sermon,” said another.

The classmates also had never read the Bible or watched a sermon, and they wanted to know more. Mariah’s friends explained what they had learned. Mariah smiled as she listened. She felt good. This was better than playing with toys. She would welcome her classmates into her home every Sabbath.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open a church and community services center to share God in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where Mariah lives. Thank you for planning a generous offering.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

“With the continual change of circumstances, changes come in our experience; and by these changes we are either elated or depressed. But the change of circumstances has no power to change God’s relation to us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and He asks us to have unquestioning confidence in His love.” — Ellen G.

White, In Heavenly Places, p. 120.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Keep looking unto Jesus, offering up silent prayers in faith, taking hold of His strength, whether you have any manifest feeling or not. Go right forward as if every prayer offered was lodged in the throne of God and responded to by the One whose promises never fail. Go right along, singing and making melody to God in your hearts, even when depressed by a sense of weight and sadness. I tell you as one who knows, light will come, joy will be ours, and the mists and clouds will be rolled back. And we pass from the oppressive power of the shadow and darkness into the clear sunshine of His presence.” — Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, pages 242, 243.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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God knows that all the running has made Elijah tired. God knows that more than being physically tired, Elijah is emotionally tired and carrying a tremendous load of guilt. Like Jesus would do for the paralytic so many years later, God wipes the slate clean and provides rest for Elijah. Finally, he can really sleep and be refreshed.

We would expect this to be the end of the story, but it isn’t. God’s rest is not a one-time event. Entering into God’s rest has to do with healing — with slowly unlearning negative thought patterns and destructive habits. God does not rush healing.

Read 1 Kings 19:5-8. Where is Elijah going now, and why?

Image © Bible Adventure Collection at Goodsalt.com

After rest, Elijah is running again. But this time God reorients his running. God understands that life in this sinful world can and will cause depression. He understands our impulse to run, but He wants to redirect our running. Instead of all the self-destructive coping mechanisms we try, He wants us to run to Him. And once we start running to Him, He wants to teach us to listen for the “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12) that will give us rest.

Elijah had no energy to lift himself up and make the journey to meet God. God provides the energy for the meeting, and God promises a better tomorrow.

As Elijah lay under his broom tree and wished to die, he believed that his best days were over.

Read  1 Kings 19.15-16 and 2 Kings 2:11. What was still in store for Elijah?

God knew that better days lay ahead for Elijah. Healing would come for the prophet as he would learn to regulate his life by God’s rhythms and accept His rest. There were still kings to be anointed and a successor to be chosen. God already knew about Elisha, who would become as close as a son to Elijah. God knew that in faith Elijah would again call down fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:10). For Elijah, there would be no desperate death under a broom tree but rather a fiery chariot ride to heavenly rest.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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This video is produced by the South Pacific Division Discipleship team.

Week 8_ Free to Rest_ study this episode for Aug 21 from SPD Discipleship on Vimeo.

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You can view an in-depth discussion of “Free to Rest/a>” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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