Falling on Hard times and Hope By Megan Nyberg, Elementary Pastor

“Give me an answer. Give me the way out. Give me the faith to believe in these hard times.”

Needtobreathe – These Hard Times

When I think about suffering kids, kids going through a hard time, my mind automatically fills with Compassion

International images. News images of inner city neighborhoods – filled with children of drug dealers and murderers –

scrolls through my brain. Hospitalized, terminally-ill kids stricken with cancer and non-curable diseases flood my head.

And I tell myself that those kids are out there. Somewhere. Not kids I know. The kids I know don’t know that kind of

pain. But according to some very real research material, the K-Rock kids I see every weekend know pain. That research?

Club K-Rock prayer request cards filled out in first-grade penmanship with child-like spelling and grammar, exposing the

hearts of our elementary-age kids. The K-Rock kids are three weeks in to filling out prayer request cards. And the cards

prove that these kids fall on hard times. And they need hope. Their requests are real. Because they are real. With real-

life problems. Problems bigger than elementary kids should have to face. But they face them. Every day. Their families

face them. Their friends face them. And they need hope.

And you know what? They come to K-Rock to find hope. Every weekend that they walk into our room, they are looking

for hope. Just a sliver of it. Something or someone to tell them that they are not alone. That people care. That God

cares. Because he does; He cares about every single one of them. About every single one of you. About all of our prayer

requests – all of our hurts. In Isaiah 40:11 (New Living Translation) it says this: “He will feed his flock like a

shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother

sheep with their young.”

He is our Comforter. He is our Shepherd. He is our Father. He is our Healer.

So, those heartbreaking prayer requests from K-Rock kids, the requests too hard for us to understand, are exactly what

He can handle. And that’s the hope that we can offer them when they fall on hard times – that their prayers are heard

by God – a God who cares for them and loves them. A God who loves us so much that He sent His only Son to this pain-

filled earth to die a painful death for our sins so that we could spend forever with Him pain-free. Talk about falling on

hard times and finding hope!

Challenge:

1. The next time you serve, try to connect with a kid you don’t already know. Get to know them by introducing

yourself, finding out their grade, school, favorite sports, pets, etc. This lets them know that you are interested

and that you care and gives you a specific kid to pray for!

2. Take time each week, whether you’re serving or not, to pray for the kids in our K-Rock room. You can pray

about: school/homework/bullying, home-life, illnesses/injuries, divorce, friends, family, death/loss, and anything

else you feel led to pray about.

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