Speaker 1: Before you start today's episode, I want to share a
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Speaker 1: not letting this podcast die, as well as helping these
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Speaker 1: and welcome back to Kids' Bible stories. Today's story is
Speaker 1: called growing pains, and this comes from James Chapter one,
Speaker 1: verses one through eight. Have you ever had your legs
Speaker 1: heard at night? I remember one time when I was kid,
Speaker 1: I told my mom.
Speaker 2: My legs are sough ache.
Speaker 1: They hurt. I was lying in bed and kept twisting
Speaker 1: around under the covers, trying to find a comfy spot.
Speaker 1: I rubbed my shins with both hands, like I was
Speaker 1: trying to warm them up or rub the hert away.
Speaker 1: I didn't know why they hurt. I hadn't fallen or
Speaker 1: bumped into anything. They just well, they ached and hurt.
Speaker 1: She came in, kissed my forehead and said, oh, sweetie,
Speaker 1: those are growing pains, growing pains. I wasn't so sure
Speaker 1: I'd like the sound of that, but then she smiled
Speaker 1: and said, sometimes when your body is growing taller and stronger,
Speaker 1: it can ache a little. That's because your bones, your muscles,
Speaker 1: and joints, they're all stretching and changing. It might, but
Speaker 1: it's actually healthy and normal. Listeners, doesn't that sound strange?
Speaker 1: That pain could actually be a sign that something good
Speaker 1: is happening that I'm growing. Today, we are going to
Speaker 1: talk about the kind of hard things that God can
Speaker 1: use to help us grow in our hearts and in
Speaker 1: our faith. So let's go ahead and jump right into
Speaker 1: today's story. Many people believe that the person who wrote
Speaker 1: the part of the Bible we were about to hear
Speaker 1: that it was actually Jesus's brother, James. Can you imagine
Speaker 1: what that must have been like, growing up with Jesus,
Speaker 1: eating breakfast with him, playing outside with him. Oh wow, Well,
Speaker 1: James wrote to encourage those who are going through a
Speaker 1: hard time, So let's hear what he wrote.
Speaker 2: James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. Greetings, consider
Speaker 2: it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face
Speaker 2: trials of many kinds.
Speaker 1: Oh, hold on, mom, what's a trial? It means something
Speaker 1: really hard that you're going through. It can be painful.
Speaker 1: It could be something that makes you feel sad or scared, frustrated,
Speaker 1: like starting a new school, or even getting really sick.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, let's hear what else else?
Speaker 2: He says? Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever
Speaker 2: you face trials of many kinds. You know that the
Speaker 2: testing of your faith it produces perseverance to keep going.
Speaker 2: Let perseverance then finish its work, so that you may
Speaker 2: be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of
Speaker 2: you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously
Speaker 2: to all, without finding fault, and it will be given
Speaker 2: to you. But when you ask, you must believe and
Speaker 2: not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a
Speaker 2: wave in the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Speaker 2: The person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Speaker 2: Such a person is double minded and unstable in all
Speaker 2: that they do.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that message, James.
Speaker 2: You're welcome.
Speaker 1: Now. Listeners. We were just talking about trials and pain,
Speaker 1: and did you catch what James said? He said, we
Speaker 1: should consider it joy when we go through trials. Wait,
Speaker 1: what huh? That sounds kind of backwards. I mean, I
Speaker 1: thought it would say something like feel sad or be
Speaker 1: frustrated when hard things happen. But joy that seems like
Speaker 1: the opposite of what we'd expect. James does say why
Speaker 1: we can feel that way?
Speaker 2: You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance,
Speaker 2: and that will finish its work so that you may
Speaker 2: be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about what James means. Sometimes a way that
Speaker 1: can help us understand something like this is through a story,
Speaker 1: So let me share one with you. There was once
Speaker 1: a girl named Mia who wanted to race in the
Speaker 1: big school bike race at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: She had never done a bicycle race before, but she
Speaker 1: thought it sounded exciting and she really wanted to try.
Speaker 1: So Mia started training every morning before school. At first,
Speaker 1: it was really hard. Her legs got tired fast. Sometimes
Speaker 1: she got side cramps. One morning, she hopped off her
Speaker 1: shiny blue bike, sat down on the grass, and proclaimed, Oh,
Speaker 1: this is too hard.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure I want to do this anymore.
Speaker 1: But her mom, who had been watching, knelt beside her
Speaker 1: and said, gently, remember when your legs used to ache
Speaker 1: when you were growing taller. That was growing pains. Right now,
Speaker 1: your muscles are doing the same thing. They're working hard
Speaker 1: and getting stronger. If you keep going, you're going to
Speaker 1: be amazed at what you can do. Mia wasn't so sure,
Speaker 1: but she decided to trust her mom's advice, and you
Speaker 1: know what, week after week she kept biking. It was
Speaker 1: still hard. Sometimes her legs still ached a little, but
Speaker 1: she started biking farther and faster, and by the time
Speaker 1: the race came, Mia stood at the starting line with
Speaker 1: confidence in her heart and strong legs underneath her. On
Speaker 1: your marr, get your head at it. She didn't win
Speaker 1: first place, but she did finish the whole race, and
Speaker 1: she smiled because she had grown, not just in her legs,
Speaker 1: but in her heart too. You see, that's kind of
Speaker 1: like what James was talking about. He told us that
Speaker 1: when we face trials, hard things, when life feels like
Speaker 1: a tough race, we can actually be growing. Our faith
Speaker 1: can get stronger, just like our legs get stronger when
Speaker 1: we use them. Our trust in God grows when we
Speaker 1: hold on to him even when things are hard. And
Speaker 1: guess what, He will always be with you. He loves you, dearly. Well,
Speaker 1: that is it for our story today. But before we go,
Speaker 1: let's think about what we just heard. Raise your hand.
Speaker 1: If you've ever had growing pains, I haven't, usually at
Speaker 1: night or after running a lot. Thanks for sharing. Now,
Speaker 1: we just heard that when we go through hard things
Speaker 1: in life, things that might feel painful, James tells us
Speaker 1: how we can look at them with joy. Just like
Speaker 1: growing pains help your body grow taller and stronger, sometimes
Speaker 1: our hearts go through hard things so they can grow
Speaker 1: stronger too, And while we don't always like it, those
Speaker 1: hard things might be part of how God is helping
Speaker 1: us become brave, kind, loving, or wise. I do want
Speaker 1: you to remember that not all pain is the same.
Speaker 1: There is a pain that can help us grow, and
Speaker 1: then there's a pain that's not good. Sometimes pain is
Speaker 1: a warning sign that something is wrong, like when you
Speaker 1: bump your head or have really sad feelings. That's why
Speaker 1: it's always important to tell your mom or dad when
Speaker 1: something hurts, because they can help you know the difference.
Speaker 1: This week, I want you to remember God is always
Speaker 1: with us, even in the hard things. He doesn't waste
Speaker 1: our tears. He sees every struggle, every late night leg ache,
Speaker 1: every prayer we whisper, and He uses them to help
Speaker 1: us grow. So next time something feels tough, remember this
Speaker 1: might just be your growing season and God is right
Speaker 1: there cheering you on. Well. That is it for our
Speaker 1: story today. Thank you so much for joining us, and
Speaker 1: as always, bye for now.