In the Middle of the Mundane

It started as a normal History lesson yesterday, but turned into so much more.

The sound of our ceiling fan whirring above to help suppress the sweltering heat. The flipping of pages being heard as my young ones read at their desks. The tapping of my keyboard beating to the rhythm of my thoughts. Just a typical weekday morning in our schoolroom. 

Until that {Spirit-led} question arose from her heart.

"Mom, why is there war?"

The words poured forth with such a burdening sadness. My daughter's eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

I stopped my work. Slowly closed my computer screen. Turning to her, I mirrored her hurting eyes. Her young and tender heart ached for an answer to such a horrific reality.

I love it when these moments of eternal worth break forth in the middle of the mundane. When a regular History lesson suddenly becomes so much more. When the monotony of the routine is, all at once, interrupted by the glory of Christ.

I could have given her the plain, flat, Google answer of the potential for gaining more resources, power, glory, territory, and the like. Or perhaps the simple reason of, "I just don't like you." But those are just the fruit of the real issue.  

Instead, we dove head-long into the root cause of war: sin.

That morning we chose to set aside the assigned textbook reading in order to swim awhile in the ocean of God's beautiful plan of redemption. To understand more fully:

* the depth of our own sin (that each and every one of us is capable of horrific things, even if we can't imagine so now)

* our desperate need for grace to save us from that sin (we can't make ourselves better)

* that grace has been fulfilled in the one man, Jesus Christ (that His perfection and righteousness is given to us when we believe in Him - we are made new!)

* and the glorious and certain hope that one Day there will be no more sin and no more war. (For when Christ returns, His reign will be one of perfect peace...forever!)

So, what started out as a despair-filled question with seemingly no hope for change, turned into a hope-filled expectation of Christ's promised return to, once and for all, right all wrongs. 

I love how His salvation permeates all areas of our lives. There is not a day that goes by that we aren't given the opportunity to stand in awe of the glory of God; to bear witness to His saving grace. Even in boring ol' History class.

"Sing to the LORD, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day." Psalm 96:2