Loving God Privately - devotions for girls

I enjoy writing- but before you read this devotion, you must keep in mind that I do not write with an editorial eye; I am not even a very good writer whatsoever- I write very flawed, very inadequate stories, but just for the sake of keeping track of the devotions, I want to post them here (that is my disclaimer!). This is purely fictional- but it serves the purpose of helping me lead a devotion for the girls in our Children's Ministry. I and my kids learn best through stories,a and that is why I love to apply God's word in story form:
Here Goes!



Loving God Privately


Scripture Memory
Proverbs 14: 22 "Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness."

In the early days, before cars or streets or even big cities crowded the west, when young girls lived either in the country or in tiny little towns, there were two girls from two different families who would meet in the early morning out in a field of fresh clean grass and field daisies. There they would bring their cows, dragging them along with a long rope to the stakes driven securely into the ground and then tie the rope to the stake so the cow could not wander too far; there the cows ate all the fresh clean grass it wanted in as wide a circle it's rope allowed it to go.

While the girls waited for the cows to graze, they used their time stitching on samplers or on quilts and chatting about their dreams or telling stories to pass the time.

"Do you think a white daisy crown suits me, Patience?" laughed the slight red headed girl beside the taller, serene looking girl as she strung a wreath of white daisies together and hung it over her forehead.

Patience, true to her name, smiled but kept her focus on her needle work. "Sarah, you are lovely without any ornaments."

Sarah turned a full circle and laughed, " Oh, Patience, I do hope I am beautiful when I grow up. I once saw a finely dressed woman when I was in town , what richness! I could only imagine the luxuries of the rich! When I grow up, I do hope I marry a rich man!"

Patience kept her eyes down and her fingers moving as she answered, "Sarah, we must trust in God's goodness for our future, besides there are no rich men this far out west. They are all coming out here poor and penniless. But, we must obey God where he has placed us knowing that He alone knows what is best for us and not desire the richness of this life when it is not for our best."

"Oh, Patience, how can you say that? I know God is real, but he cannot want all my obedience! I get simply bored to death always thinking about God. It might be fine for you; being such a quiet and loving girl, but I was meant for something far grander!" Sara picked another daisy and plucked the petals in a distracted way.

Patience put her stitching down on her lap and leaned over to grasp Sara's hand . "Sara, dear. Look over in that direction," she pointed a finger to the north.

"What, Old Amos' field? They say he's crazy you know; always walking barefoot and singing to the sky in the scariest way, it simply makes my skin crawl and besides he is the oddest looking man I've ever seen with that dark skin and snow white hair."

"Yes, I do mean Amos' field. Later, I'll take you over a little closer and I will show you a gravestone my Father showed me one year ago, but I will tell you his story and you can judge for yourself if desiring riches is better than loving God ."

"I think I heard my Papa say that there is some mystery about his place." Sarah's green eyes twinkled with curiosity.

Patience sat back down and took up her stitching once again, "Sit Sara and do your work while I tell you the story so your Mama won't be angry when you go home empty handed."

This made Sarah sit on a low stone and pick up her needlework."Alright, Patience, go on."

Patience continued, " About sixty years ago, before even our folks knew about this part of the country and before any other homesteaders were living out here, Amos and his wife and two children lived here on the land.
He was much younger then and a fine piece of land he owned, growing corn and wheat. Back then, Indians roamed the plains freely and as fierce as the stories we have heard them to be, curiously, they left Amos alone.
You see, he was a dark skinned- negro ( he had been an indentured servant in the east and when he gained his freedom, his master gave him all he needed to move west and make his own mark on the world, Amos married the white daughter of another servant and took her with him to the west) oddly enough, the Indians thought he was protected by good Spirits with his deep coloring. He also knew a few things about medicine and once when he helped a tribe infected with a disease they had complete trust in him since then- but only him as you will soon see.

Although they lived in peace with Amos, they were a fierce people, killing off new settlers as they passed this way without so much as a blink.

But Amos was a godly man. He tried to teach the Indians about God but none of them would listen to the stories, except to understand that there might be another God they had overlooked and so they not only prayed to their gods but to Amos' God to make sure they appeased all the gods and spirits. This made Amos very sad, but he continued to teach about God anyway.

Eventually an Indian boy did come to trust in the Savior. He was not just any boy though, he was the son of the Chief. The Chief became very angry when his son came back to camp telling the great warriors they must stop the massacres and stop worshiping the Spirits. The great Chief became so angry he made war on Amos' family and slaughtered his wife, and two sons.

Amos was so grieved over the loss of his family and how they were killed, and for days he could not even get up from the ground because of his grief. Amos finally gathered himself together and took the best of all he had- clothing, half his crops, his fine horses and he led them through the mass of curious Indians for it was not their custom to be given gifts after a massacre. The Chief stood proud and arrogant before Amos and without even a hint of remorse took all of Amos' gifts without question.

Amos stood tall before the red-skinned Chief and shouted out so all could hear, " The same way you have killed my sons and wife, it is the same way the one true God's only son was killed- cruelly by the hands of a proud people like you. God freely gave up his son though and then forgave them just as I forgive you. As I have given you the best of all I have, God has freely given us the gift of Salvation!" And then Amos told them of God's son and all he did for us and from that time on, the Indian Chief came to know the Savior.
The Indian people lived in peace from that time on, and the ones who did not wish to believe, left the tribe to join others or form their own.

Amos never was the same after that, but he loves God and so should we, Sara, because we may never know when difficult things will be asked of us and if we don't have good Character through trusting and loving God now, we may never know who's soul needed to hear the Good News of the Gospel."

Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "Poor family. Poor man. Yes, I see that I could never have forgiven that Chief if he came and killed my family."

"No, not on our own strength, Sara. We must study God's word and love God privately in the quiet moments of our lives, not thinking meaningless thoughts or wishing meaningless lives because we won't be ready to trust God when life becomes truly difficult."



Discussion questions:
1.
Think about this quote:
A cup of sweet water could never spill a drop of bitter water, no matter how heavily it was jolted."
-Amy Carmichael
What does it mean to have sweet water in your soul? Who in this story showed a spirit of sweet water?

2. How do you think someone can be so filled with sweet water that there is no room for bitterness? (Prov 14: 10- Each heart knows its own bitterness...)

3. How do we become so filled with love for God?

4. What does it mean to have good Character? How do you get good Character?

5. How can you love God privately?