On Monday I told the story of how God worked in miraculous ways to start a Bible Club in a public elementary school. In fact, we were the only elementary school in our board with a Bible Club! We were so fortunate to have a principal who was sympathetic to Christians, and the Bible Club continued and thrived for the next couple of years.

Unfortunately for us, this principal retired and a new principal was brought in, one who was not favourable towards a Bible Club. I went to his office one day to ask his permission to continue the club. I explained that there were many students who willingly came. He wasn’t happy about the idea. He expressed that he didn’t want parents calling to complain that their child was attending a Bible Club at school! He acknowledged, however, that he didn’t know what to do. “Give me a few weeks,” he said, “and then I’ll give you my answer.”

As we continued to meet, the students and I decided to take God at His Word: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7 NIV). We began to pray that we would be allowed to continue the Bible Club. Meanwhile, the principal met with the lawyers from the school board office. The lawyers looked at it from all sides. They saw that the Bible Club had been running for at least three years and that the kids liked it. They expressed concern that perhaps if the Bible Club were to be shut down, there might be problems with parents who wanted to see that it continued.

Our new principal was still uneasy with the concept. He would have preferred no Bible Club at all in his school, but the lawyer came up with a liveable compromise: Any child who wished to attend the Bible Club would need to have specific, written permission from their parents.

The students were elated, and the permission letters poured in. They knew that God had answered their prayers. They felt that He had done a miracle on their behalf.

We never have to worry about things when our Father in Heaven is in charge. He knows what to do, and no matter how desperate the situation, there is ALWAYS Hope!

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “There is ALWAYS Hope” devotional series, please click here.)