What Happened to Me?
Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.Proverbs 22:6
We often hear this passage used to encourage parents to bring their children up in the faith. To bring them to church and Sunday school. To have family devotions. To set an example of Christian living for their kids.
It’s also an encouragement for Christian parents whose children are wandering from the faith. A good foundation has been laid, and we pray that one day the Good Shepherd will bring his sheep home by leading them back to that firm foundation.
But what if we looked at this passage from a different perspective? What if we put ourselves in the teenager or young adult’s shoes? Maybe, reader, they are your shoes.
Growing up in the church, you loved God. You took him at his Word. You had the faith of a child that Jesus talks about (Mark 10:14). You learned the Ten Commandments and wanted to love God because of all his love for you. You learned how Jesus died for your sins and opened heaven to you.
But then you got older. And faith got harder.
And now you find yourself facing temptations you only heard about in confirmation class, temptations you always thought you’d be able to deny with Jesus’ help, but you find yourself failing and falling again and again.
Now you find yourself facing bigger questions and bigger challenges to your faith than you ever have. Curious questions from non-Christians. Sharp challenges from skeptics. Maybe you find yourself doubting that the true God is the God of the Bible. Maybe you find yourself doubting that he loves you. Maybe you find yourself doubting that there exists a God to love you at all.
You find yourself asking, “What happened to me?”
Though your temptations are tougher now and your sins seem more alarming than before, Jesus’ forgiveness is still greater. His power to protect you from temptation is still greater than the devil and the world’s power to tempt. By learning the true power of temptation and sin, you are learning more and more how great Jesus’ power to save is, how deep Jesus’ love for you is.
Though the questions and the challenges are bigger now, but God’s Word meets the challenge. Though you learned the basics of the faith, God uses these challenges and questions to drive you deeper into his Word, to learn more about him, to rely more on his wisdom and strength.
It’s not easy to be a young Christian, especially in today’s world. Those of us who are a little older are praying for you. We are here for you. Pray for us that we might show you also the love and understanding of Christ as we all come together in his kingdom.