“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105
In about my third year of youth ministry, I was visiting with one of my students. He had been coming to our youth group about as long as I had been the youth director. I knew that he had not been at many churches before, but a friend had invited him to Six Flags, and I asked that any friends that come to Six Flags with us would have to come to at least one youth event before. He came to that youth event and to Six Flags and was hooked! He was so faithful to Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, and started coming on Sunday mornings as well. He was also excited to jump in to our special events over the summer like Dayspring Camp and Youth Force.
At the time, we were having this particular visit, he had been to two summers of camps and was thinking about going through Confirmation class that I was going to offer for some of our older high school students who hadn’t had a chance yet to go through Confirmation. At some point during our conversation, I mentioned a Bible story. He told me he remembered hearing that one from Dayspring the summer before. At another point, I mentioned another scripture, and he remembered me teaching about it one morning at Sunday School.
In that moment, I was amazed and humbled at what God was doing in his life and in mine. During his time at our church, I had been a part of almost all of the moments that this student had experienced with God’s word. And God was doing something incredible that these stories had impacted him in such a way, that he had a clear memory of when he heard these stories and verses. I hadn’t realized just how much he was hearing these scripture passages for the first time and how they were sinking in.
God uses the stories and verses in the Bible to continue to speak to people today. Scripture is powerful. Don’t be afraid to share a story or a verse with someone you know. You never know if they’ve never heard it before or even how much it might mean to them in their current situation. God can use these moments to reach someone in a life-changing way.
Amy Givens, Directory of Youth Ministry
