YOU ARE MY MURDER.

One of the reasons I love teaching is for those rare moments when you see the light bulb come on in a student’s head—the “I get it!” moment.

Well, the tables turned yesterday, and though I was the one teaching, I had a light bulb moment. I was working with one of my favorite classes (disclaimer: I love them all, but this one is especially great.) on reading comprehension. They’re university students looking to take a test called the TOEFL—it’s a test that, if they pass, will open doors for them to continue their studies in an English Speaking university, either here in a foreign university or abroad in western Europe or the United States. We read this passage (It’s short and English is your first language. Humor me.):

Animal Congregation

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with those conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in hives; some fish move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs; deer associate in herds; crows fly in a murder. The main advantage of membership in a mass community is the safety that it provides. A large group of prey may be easier for a predator to find at any given point than is a small one, and a predator may think twice before taking on such a group; if a predator does decide to challenge a large group, it may merely counter a confusing mass of moving bodies who protect each other and may not succeed in its primary goal.

My take on it all?

The predator: The Prince of Darkness.

The predator’s primary goal: to stop the work of the KING in this place.

He’s a sneaky little beast, and his tactics aren’t always easy to dodge. Sometimes his attacks upset, always they terrify. Are those tactics effective against puny little individual?

YES. YES. YES.

I am weak. I am fragile. I am feeble. I am frail.

But the good news? It’s not just “I”. I have the Sp!r!t of the Most High alive and at work in me. And, I have YOU.

You: family, friends, my home fellowship, my sending company, even my little tiny niece.

Friends, when the Prince of Darkness attacks over here, he finds a confusing mass of moving bodies who protect each other, who protect me—you hold me before the throne and lift me up, you encourage me, you build me up and sharpen me—and he does not succeed.

HE DOES NOT SUCCEED.

Thank you.

You are my hive.

You are my school.

You are my pack.

You are my herd.

You are my murder.

THANK YOU.