Sunday Thoughts: When We Feel Alone (a Grown-up Version of My VBS Lesson)

This Monday, I’m teaching the lesson for Vacation Bible School at church. I spent many years volunteering at VBS, even spending several years as our children’s ministry director’s right-hand man, but I like teaching a lesson now because I only have to show up for one night.

This lesson is so impactful to me that I thought I’d share it here, albeit in a way that’s not aimed at kids. The title is “When we feel alone, we can trust Jesus.”

I’m the kind of person who enjoys some time alone once in a while. I love being around people, but there’s nothing like some alone time to recharge my social batteries.

But I’m talking to the kids about how being alone as a kid can bring fears and anxieties. It was one of those irrational childhood fears that plagued me when I was alone as a kid.

When I was in first grade, I saw a documentary on TV about a tornado hitting a school, and how the students there coped with and survived it. It left an impression on me.

And then there were the stories my grandfather told about the tornado he was in when he was a student. It’s still the fifth-deadliest tornado in history, and I wrote about it in April. My grandfather’s recollections were vivid and memorable.

Those two factors led me to have an irrational fear of tornadoes, and that fear loomed hard over me when I was in bed at night by myself. At some point, I learned that tornadoes most often travel southwest to northeast; my bedroom was on the southwest corner of the house, which meant to my overactive childhood mind that if a tornado hit our house, I would be the first one to die.

A couple of years ago, I wrote (in the related link above) about how the anxiety that stemmed from that irrational fear led me to rely on the first scripture I ever committed to memory:

The first Bible verse I memorized as a kid was one that my great-grandmother taught me: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you,” (Psalm 56:3, ESV — although I’m sure she taught it to me in KJV). That verse has stayed with me for over four decades, and I turn to it time and time again when anxiety pops up.

Side note: The funny thing about that fear is that one of my dream jobs as a kid was to be a weatherman. I didn’t want to be a meteorologist at the National Weather Service or anything; I wanted to be the guy on TV telling you the forecast. My other childhood dream job was to be a game show host.

I outgrew that fear, and I even geek out today over meteorology. But I still remember those sleepless nights when I fretted alone in my bedroom about whether a tornado would hit my house and whether I would live through it. At some point in my childhood, I realized that my parents would take care of me no matter what room of the house we were in, but more importantly, I remembered that God was watching over me.

One passage that I’m using to remind the kids that Jesus is there for us even when we’re alone comes from the Sermon on the Mount:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV, emphasis mine)

I’m also reminding them of words that Jesus spoke to another crowd:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

My object lesson for this part — I’m in character as a hiker for the lesson — is to pick up a heavy backpack with two kettlebells in it. I’ll remove the kettlebells, which represent anxiety and worry, and show the kids how lightweight it is without those two factors in life. Jesus gives us the ability to throw off those weights.

Even though this lesson is for kids, you’re never too old for a reminder that you don’t have to let worry, anxiety, or fear weigh you down. Jesus is there for us, even when we feel alone! How comforting is that?

🙏 Jesus Calms the Storm — And Your News Feed 🙌
When anxiety creeps in, God's Word reminds us that we are never alone — and neither are you when you stand with PJ Media.

In a world full of uncertainty, bias, and noise, PJ Media VIP gives you clarity, truth, and fellowship with like-minded believers and patriots.

📖 As Matthew 6 reminds us: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow..." Let us help you cut through the anxiety-inducing spin of the mainstream media — and instead stay informed with Biblical perspective and fearless reporting.

💥 This week only, get 74% OFF a VIP subscription with code POTUS47 — our most faith-affirming offer yet.

👉 Join PJ Media VIP today and carry the peace of truth with you, every day.