The bee sting

2013 Tshimakain Creek Camp Staff - loving kids well and being a little goofy at times

God works for our good. All the time. Even when we are praying for the opposite. Earlier this summer at UGM Camp, we had a camper with a severe allergy to bee stings. At one of our early morning staff meetings, we discussed protocol. We have a lot of insects at camp, and we wanted to be prepared. The camper carries an Epi pen at all times. We talked about how to use it and when, but no one really wanted it to come to that. We prayed that we wouldn’t have to use it, that God would protect this camper from bees – put a sort of invisible wall of repellent around her.

Later that day on the challenge course, the camper got stung, and the leader administered the epinephrine without hesitation. Everything worked out, but clearly, this was not what we had prayed for. Why didn’t God just keep her from getting stung? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, what’s one little bee to him?

Well, we can’t presume to know the mind of God, but if we take a couple steps back from this situation, the bigger picture offers some possibilities.

This particular camper (she didn’t want to be pictured) was a larger girl and kind of a loner. That first day at camp, she hung back, didn’t join in the activities and didn’t respond to the leaders’ attempts to draw her in.

After the bee sting, the camper and the leader had a chance to talk. The leader explained that the staff had met and talked about how to care for her if she was stung. She said the leaders’ concern was a reflection of God’s concern, not just over a bee sting but in every situation. The bee sting created a situation where the leader could share the gospel, and the camper was receptive.

We don’t always know how to pray, but God always knows how to answer.

~ Mackenzie Howell, Tshimakain Creek Camp summer intern