Article September 30, 2013 ISSUE

I listened to the Shepherd's voice

Jaclynn

While at art camp on an island, at the end of class, the boys in my group started fighting outside. The teachers became so focused on the fight that they forgot I was still in the building and locked it up. I had gone to the bathroom to wash off the paint on my shoes. I ran to join the group but found I was locked in and that everyone had gone to meet the ferry to leave the island. I looked upstairs and downstairs for a phone, but all the phones I found were not working. I felt very alone. I sat down and started to cry.

The thought came to me that I would be there all night, and that there was no escape. But I recognized that this was not a message from God. In Sunday School we had been talking about angels, messages from God, and how to recognize them. Just as sheep recognize their shepherd’s voice, I too can recognize my Father-Mother God’s voice. Mary Baker Eddy describes angels in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as “God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; …” (p. 581 ).

So I decided to shut the door on the fearful thoughts right away. Instead, I said to myself, “I will listen to my Shepherd’s voice to guide me.” An angel message told me to go check all the windows in the building. I found one at just the right height, which opened easily. I threw my lunchbox out the window, climbed out, and closed it behind me. I ran to the ferry station and met up with the rest of my group.

When I shared this experience with my Sunday School class, my teacher showed me how to look up in a concordance a Bible verse that talks about God opening doors: “Behold, I have set before thee an open door” (Revelation 3:8 ). I was grateful for just a window!

The lesson that I learned is that God is always with me, even when I seem to be all alone. And as Dumbledore puts it in the Harry Potter book series, “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light” (J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). God is my light and guides me through the darkest of places.

Jaclynn, 12
Wilmington, North Carolina

About the author

Jaclynn enjoys softball, swimming, ice skating, riding her bike, poetry, and playing with her dog, Snowball.

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