Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Jan/84

Contributor - Wanda Kuper

Title - "It's Not a Religion - It's a Relationship"

Topic - Youth

I have always had a relationship with God, but in the last two summers it has grown in depth. Two summers ago I was a Y.I.T., and this past summer I taught Vacation Bible School in Kitchener, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba. It seems that the more I respond to God's love, the more love He has for me.

The thing that blew my mind was that He gave me a job this summer. I didn't have a clue what I was going to do this past summer, and I have never had a summer job before. So wouldn't you know it my first job was a summer ministry for God. And where did I go? All the way to Winnipeg! I had a dozen friends at school that said I was a big baby because I got to go all the way to Winnipeg for a job with all expenses paid. Until two years ago I had never even been to downtown Kitchener. My classmates laughed at me and called me "hayseed" because I hadn't been to the place where everybody around here goes almost every weekend. Now I've passed them all. I lived for three and a half weeks in Kitchener and for three and half weeks in Winnipeg. You can really go places with God.'

In Winnipeg we went door to door and asked people if they would like to end their children to our Bible Club. At first none of the Y.I.T.'s were thrilled about this idea. But we really should not have been scared, because God had given us this job in the first place. Why would He defeat His own purpose and let us stand there at a loss for words? And why should we be afraid, embarrassed or shy to tell people? If you had a friend that you really admired, wouldn't you want everyone to know your friend the same way that you do? And wouldn't you just be shocked if you met someone who disliked your friend?

In Winnipeg we taught twelve Bible Clubs in three weeks, and one of the saddest things I experienced all summer happened when I was teaching one of these clubs. I was starting my class and I told the children that we would start with prayer. They all just looked at me. One child asked what a prayer was. Not one of them knew. I had to teach those children to pray! That's sad in more than one way. It is sad because those children had no relationship with God whatsoever and probably many others don't either. Second, it is sad that all of us here take our relationship with God for granted. We pray to God whenever we want to or need to. But here were some children who didn't have this privilege. I think we take our relationship with God for granted by not acknowledging Him for the little things He does for us. All too often we pass off God's blessings as coincidences. How stupid can we get? We are always looking for proof of God's existence and asking for things; but when He blesses us with something we miss it because we pass it off as a coincidence. I will tell you of a few 'coincidences' in Winnipeg.

I was at a minister's home waiting for Jean Campbell (the next person I would stay with) to pick me up. On the way over, Jean had to slam on the brakes and dumped over a pail of honey that was in the back seat of the car. There was two inches of honey all over the floor of the car. After supper that night Jean went out to clean up the car. After a while she came running in with tears in her eyes. She explained that she had found the diamond that she had lost from her engagement ring three years earlier. Then she dared me to tell her that God didn't spill that pail of honey on purpose! I thought that it was wonderful that she could take an everyday happening and turn it into a blessing from God instead of a coincidence.

Another time, we got lost heading home from downtown Winnipeg. Usually when we got off course in Winnipeg we weren't really "lost" because we had a street map. But this time we couldn't even find where we were on the map, so I drove around for awhile. While I was stopped at a stop sign, I looked to the side and there were two elderly ladies and an elderly man standing on the corner. Suddenly the man fell down, and if he wasn't having a heart attack, I was, because I didn't have a clue what to do or where to go for help. I jumped out of the car and ran over to them, where I helped the man to his feet and put back on his slippers. Everything was okay; he had just fallen down. I think that our being lost was a blessing from God in two ways: One way was that we felt good that we could help someone; and the other way was that the old man had someone there to help him. How many blessings do you refuse to accept by passing them off as coincidences?

Lastly, I would like to share my relationship with God in the area of my future. My future has been a big issue in my mind for quite a while now and everyday it gets bigger, since I am finishing Grade 12 this year. So what could I do? I cannot begin to count the people who have told me, "Go all the way Grade 13, university; don't stop; be the best, the sky's the limit have the most education; get the best paying job; don't be dumb; be independent don't make the mistake of your life." I have been bombarded! And this is what really bothers me the most.

Ever since I was old enough to listen, my Sunday School teachers and my parents have told me about God, about His love for us, and how if we have faith we can do anything - until you're sixteen! Then things change. Different people start telling you "No more games". "Get a hold of your life and control it." "Be independent and don't rely on anyone for anything." This contradicts all my upbringing, and is really confusing. But I have seen people who rely on themselves, and I have seen people who rely on God. And I know which kind of person I want to be. I know where my future lies. It lies in the relationship that I have with God.

I wear a sweatshirt that says, "I Love Winnipeg", and every time someone reads it I tell them how I hated it there. Every time I do that I think, "Wanda, you dummy. You could have told that person about your relationship with God. How He gave you a job. How He trained you the year before. How He takes care of you. How He sent you all over the country. How much fun you had teaching Bible School."

I hope that we all will be able to examine our relationship with God. And I pray that people will not look at us and say, "They've got religion", or "They're religious", but that they will instead say, " Hey, they've got some kind of beautiful relationship with something or someone. I sure wish I had a relationship that made me that happy".

You know that you have a relationship with God and I know it. Now you have to make sure everyone else knows it.

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