World famous theologian, ok I meant boxer, Iron Mike Tyson said, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Maybe that’s why new year resolutions only last about four months. Once you are finally doing the thing then the adversity kicks in. I remember training for sixteen weeks to set a personal record on a marathon, only to have to stop and use the facilities on mile 2. I set a new PR in disappointment instead.
Life, as in ministry, comes rife with challenges and disappointment.
A diagnosis you don’t want, a struggling family member, or finally giving in to the practicality of elastic waistbands. Do you ever feel like you want to fast forward or rewind to a different chapter of life? In tough moments, we think, “Forget new resolutions, I don’t have the energy for it, just get me out of here!”
When it comes to challenge and disappointment, Jesus was intimately familiar with both. He came to die after all, for the very crowd that caused it and who were cheering on his pain. “In this world you will have trouble,” he taught in John 16. Boy was he right.
At Youth For Christ, we hang out with a lot of teenagers. Thousands each year, in fact. After a while you see patterns. Great kid, wrong crowd, tough parent, no parent, drugs, and so on. A downward spiral of compounding problems. This was Ricky’s story when David met him.
Celebrating Christmas with Students!
Ricky knew about God and hung on loosely to faith, praying here and there, remembering some highlights of scripture. His background and family life were heartbreaking, but he had made a little progress on forgiveness and was starting to connect with David and go back to school and church.
It wasn’t long, though, until David started noticing Ricky being less vocal, starting to put distance in their relationship, and stopped showing up to church.
So, one day, David came through to find Ricky and asked him, “What happened, what did I do?” “It’s not that,” Ricky shared, “it’s just that I’m doing stuff you wouldn’t like or be proud of.”
“I’m not going to judge you. I am going to tell you what I think and encourage you in a better direction, but ultimately, you get to make choices for you. I just want you to include Jesus in what’s really going on.” And with that, David shared his own mess ups and the sin and challenges that he’s had in his own life.
This is what we do; we walk with kids, and we invest, especially in the hard times. But it doesn’t always pan out how we want. Later that month, Ricky’s choices caught up with him, and probation came to get him at school. Now we don’t know where he is, or what’s next for his journey. We are sad to say the least!
Jesus prepares us for challenge, disappointment, and trouble. In John 16, as he is readying his disciples for the hard journey ahead without him, he gives them a command with two promises. “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (v24b). You can take the laments, the needs, the wants, the confusions, the tears, and the praises and take them right to God because He wants to hear all about it. He can handle it. And, ultimately, He can do something about it.
David wishes things went down differently for Ricky. Yet he trusts that God can work all situations for good and that He is still in control. So, in the meantime, we’re asking and praying as Jesus taught. Praying that Ricky sees God working in his life wherever he is right now. And God will do that. That’s who He is. He promised.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Have peace. Keep praying. Jesus has overcome.
Praying,
Jameson
P.S. As you pray through your needs today, remember the teen in your family or on your block. Let’s pray for them by name this month, asking God to move with power in their life.
