Responsible Father

1. The Army
2. Quake
3. The Storm
4. Snare
5. Army Camp
6. Thirst
7. Poverty

Allegory Story Introduction – Why I Wrote These

“They don’t care about towers.”

That was my realization, as I was teaching our Wednesday night Kindergarten/First Grade class about Proverbs 18:10. It made sense – they had no conception of towers as an application into their life. None of them had ever needed to go into a tower to be safe. None of them had every been given security by running into a fortress.

So I decided to tell them a quick story – “Okay, imagine if …” – about a child, maybe around their age was running from an enemy (or a wild animal? I hadn’t planned it out very well). As I described the danger, I became aware of something interesting – the whole class was quiet, and their eyes were focused on me. I imagine that you can guess – it’s a rare thing to have 30 six and seven-year-olds sitting still and listening. And then I told them about the child running into a fortress, provided by the King. I pressed in on how the walls of the tower made the child feel safe.

And then, as I was finishing the story, I knew something else:

“They don’t know they need a tower.”

But now, I had their attention. And I could tell them that all of them – in fact, every person – is like that young girl who cannot protect herself from the danger. And that led right into the gospel, and why we all need a tower, provided by the King, to save us. And what is the tower?

The Word of God uses a lot of allegories and similes and sometimes we can fly by them and not let them empty into our lives, our situation, our status. This is especially true of children, who might often think the stories are about adults or for older people. And here’s where stories can help.

Stories can bring us emotion and connection and highlight need. Stories can help us connect with truth as told by God’s authors in His Word. That’s what I’m trying to do in this book of stories.

I don’t mean for these to be stories for parents or stories for children. I mean for them to be stories that parents read to their children.

Intro and why I wrote these stories

Read this to your kids.

Proverbs 18:10 – The Army

Pedro was walking near his home, on his way home from his apprenticeship training – he was learning how to work with leather. The walk was on a familiar path that he’d taken, by himself many times. And it had always been a safe road.

But he knew he was in trouble when he saw the army. He’d rounded a corner and then jumped back – throwing himself to the ground. They were still at quite a distance, he saw as he peeked around a tree, still laying on his stomach. Still far, but they were not walking with secrecy – they were coming brashly with some speed. He immediately recognized it as the enemy, the enemy army with its yellow and red banner.

His father had told him that there might be a day when they would hear the trumpet blast and there might be a great threat from this army. They were ruthless. They went from town to town destroying. Pedro’s family knew people who had been killed.

He could hear them laughing harsh laughs. Had they seen him? He feared they had. With relief, he saw that the army was at a crossroads and was heading down the road – not towards him.

But then he spotted an officer calling some mounted men. And Pedro saw this officer point towards him. And then the men kicked at their horses and rode at a gallop straight towards him.

He’d been told what to do if he learned that this army was near their village. He ran. He ran back to town, but not by the road. He headed away from the road, through the woods, woods thick enough – he hoped the branches would hinder the horses.

He ran – his goal was not far, but it was too far. Soon he could hear the horses and they must have been able to determine his direction. Should he have hidden? No, he knew where he needed to go.

He ran – and soon his lungs were hurting and there was blood on his face from being scratched by the pine branches he ducked through.

He ran – and the horses’ footfalls grew louder, and he heard harsh voices “There he is!” And now there were arrows whizzing past him.

And then he was in the open, out of the woods and he saw his goal – a wall, a strong wall with high turrets, with the King’s banner flying. He knew it would be there and he was glad to see it. There were men on the top of the wall and they were yelling for someone to open the door for him – a door he also knew would be there.

And the door was opened as he ran – not very wide, but wide enough.

He slipped through. The guards shut the door. There was the sound of arrows banging against the door and bouncing off.

And then his saw his family in the crowd that had gathered there. They embraced. They smiled.
He was loved inside the tower. The tower builder was inside. The enemy was outside and couldn’t hurt him or his family. He was safe.

[10] The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe. (ESV)

In our God, we have a place of safety from evil attackers. Safety from eternal harm. Safety from beings who want to destroy us. God protects us, always.

What can God protect you from?

Other passages to consider: Psalm 60:4

Click here to see more stories and why I wrote them.

Dads, direct disobedience must be dealt with.