Stand for our Teens

What would it be like to live in an environment where God commanded you to,

Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge Me," (Jeremiah 9:4-6).

Sadly, there is a group of people who do live in this environment today. This is their world! Teens not only experience it all day long, many come home to it. In some families, relevant truth trumps absolute truth. These young people seem to have nowhere to run, no one to hear them, no one to rescue them; they are at the mercy of their caregivers (if that is what you can call them) and they are at the mercy of those who have been limited in their ability to give them hope.  

This seems like such a hopeless situation. When hopeless situations come my way, I often want to run, because I do not know what to do. I am even tempted to withdraw in the shadows and hope that this situation will vanish from my spirit. But it never vanishes, it only comes back all the stronger; all because the love of God resides in my spirit and His Spirit yearns for the hurting to be saved and relieved.

Jeremiah was no different when God said these words to His own people. Jeremiah wanted to just flee to a place of peace in his life (Jeremiah 9:2), but he knew that his role was to never give up in doing good, never give up in giving the truth to these people who were ensnared in the depths of their sinful culture. He also knew that God’s will was not to retreat, but to fight. Not fight with the sword but fight with the unabridged and uncut truth.

Yes, we live in a world that is not far removed from the world God described in Jeremiah. However, the good news is there are people like Jeremiah who do not deceive, who love the truth, and who do not embrace the filth of this sinful society. I believe there are more people like this in our sphere than we can count. But I also believe that many who are greatly pained by the hurt these teens experience, who are immensely confused as to what to do, who are overwhelmed by the difficulty, and who struggle in the battle for these souls, do so enough that they retreat instead of stand.  

I say stand:

    1. Stand on your knees and pray for these teens. Never give up beseeching the Lord for their hope, their salvation, their relief, and their rescue. When we stop praying, we stop caring. When we stop caring, these young people really do have no hope.

    2. Stand in the truth. Give the truth to these young people every chance you get. Don’t falter from it and don’t worry about how it will be received; we are assured that God’s word will NOT return empty once it is sent. We deliver it, God uses it. 

    3. Stand in the path of God’s plans. If God has revealed a plan for us to implement for these young people, follow through. Do it. Even if it looks bleak and impossible. God is into the impossible. And He is certainly in the business of making the bleak, bright!