Counting Hairs
Bible Talk for Children's Ministry
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“We have a big huge job ahead of us today,” I told the kids coming up the aisle of the
sanctuary. “We need to get started quickly, so I am going to pick a couple of volunteers to help me.” I chose the first two who made it to the altar steps—towheaded brothers
who were about ten and six years old.
I asked little Patrick if he could stand very still for a while. He nodded agreeably.
“OK,” I turned to his older brother, Matthew, “What I need you to do is to count the hairs on his head.” The congregation began to laugh softly but, obedient little guy that he was, he went right
to work.
While he was busy with the task, I told the rest of the kids. “While I was having my devotions this week, I came across something in The Book that I just could not believe. It said that even the hairs on your head have all been counted.
“Jesus was preparing his followers to go out in the world to tell people about Him. He knew that it was not going to be easy. He promised them that it would not matter if they were shy or felt like a dummy doing it. God would give them the words to say, kind of
like a ventriloquist who makes the mouth of his puppet move, but is really the one doing the talking.” I moved my fingers and thumb like a talking hand that looked at me and back at them as I said it.
“How are you doing down there?” I asked the brothers who were still working on their project. The little brother was still standing as still as a rock, and his older brother was systematically dividing hairs and counting. He shook his head vehemently, clearly annoyed at my
interruption.
“Oops, sorry,” I whispered.
“Well, I’ll just go on with my story then,” I said, looking up. “Anyway, Jesus went on to tell his disciples that even with God speaking through them, some people would not want to hear what they had to say and would try to stop them. He told them that even if
bad things happened to them because they told others that they believed Jesus was sent by God to save them, God would know about it.
“Even if we don’t understand why bad things happen, we just have to trust Him. There
are many stories in The Book where a bad thing happens; then something good comes
from it.
“For example, Joseph was beaten and sold as a slave by his brothers and then became the king’s highest official in Egypt. Years later, he was in the right place at the right time to be able to save his whole family from dying of hunger when there was no food. God was the only one who knew things would turn out that way.
“Even if bad things happen to you, ‘Jesus said [paraphrasing] keep remembering that each of us is so important to God that He even knows how many hairs there are on our heads.’
“Are you finished yet?” I asked the counter.
“No,” he sighed in exasperation, “and you just made me lose my place.”
“Would it help if the other kids came up and helped?” Little brother looked panic-stricken at the thought of a dozen pairs of hands pawing through his scalp. The kids came to his rescue.
“I don’t think that would work either.”
“We would just get in each other’s way.”
“How would we know if somebody else had already counted one of the hairs we were counting?”
“It would be too confusing.”
“What if we started with somebody with less hair, maybe like Roy?” I asked, pointing back to where the prematurely balding youth leader sat. He wasn’t too thrilled.
“I still don’t think it would work,” one of the others decided, “It’s just too hard.”
“Well, how does God do it then?” I puzzled.
The consensus of shrugs in the group was mingled with variations on the same theme,
“Because He is God, and I am not.” What a wise little bunch!
“Well, it boggles my mind how He can do it,” I said shaking my head, “but I just remembered something else I read in The Book. The things that God knows that I don’t would outnumber the grains of sand.
“Hey!” I snapped my fingers, excitedly, “I just had a thought. How many of you like to go to the beach?” Everybody brightened at the notion and began to regal me with tales of their favorite sandy shores. “Well,” I interrupted, “have you ever tried to count the grains of sand while you were there?”
That very thought triggered a chorus of laughter from the entire room.
“What is so funny about that?” I asked, innocently. “If we got enough people involved all over the world, and we worked together for say, a few million years, couldn’t we count them? If we knew how many there were, we could begin to understand just how BIG God is and how amazing it is that a God that big would even know how many hairs I have on my head. How can God do that? It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it!” I held my head in my hands.
The consensus of exasperated shrugs in the group this time was like an innocent repeat: “We already told you, don’t you get it??” Still mingled with variations on the same theme, it got their point across to what they perceived as so obvious, I had to be a complete dunce not to get it!
“Because He is God, and I am not.” What a wise little bunch!
But even the hairs of your head are all counted. (Matthew 10:30)
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive. (Genesis 50:20)
How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand. (Psalm 139:17-18a)
Copyright 2024 Sandie Williams
OUTSIDE THE BOX
#INSIDETHEBOOK
Published by AMG Publishers, Inc.
Counting Hairs is one of Fifty-Two brief inspirational chapters that will make you laugh, cry, contemplate, and, hopefully, SHARE. The author chronicles years of drawing on the unADULTerated wisdom of children, as together they simplified baffling theology and helped bring to life what the weekly Biblical topics meant to them in their real world. These nuggets of timeless scriptural truths for all ages use the same methods Jesus found effective; parables (anecdotes) drawn from simple relatable everyday things. This is one of the most creative devotionals you will find --- Sandie Williams makes us see the world differently as she shares her crazy outside-the-box stories that are guaranteed to stick with her audiences for years to come.
Short attention span? No problem! Time constraints? I feel your pain! Reading rack above the toilet paper? Gotcha covered! Need new ideas for your own children's ministry?
OUTSIDE THE BOX #InsideTHE BOOK is meant to encourage young and old alike to find everywhere and in everything, their own glimpses of God and be compelled to share them! Today’s culture is almost a blank canvas. If we do not share those divine insights in a world gone sideways, who will?
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