"They say a person doesn't become an adult until the age of 24, so I have 5 more years to discover myself, grow in my faith, and (I pray) ultimately make a difference, as I'm old enough to understand the issues, and still young enough not to be embittered or jaded by the past."This is the article I reference in the first sentence: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/teenage-plus-the-new-adolescence-7676016.html, which says that the
"...adolescent brain is handicapped in the rational assessment of risk and prone to "hot cognitions" – decisions influenced by exciting or stressful conditions which adults are better able to resist."In other words, part of the reason that people at this age act the way they do is because the decision-making parts of their brains aren't fully developed as of yet. Having spent a year in a college dorm, I can agree that this is often true! Being this age-the "extended adolescent," as I've seen it referred to-is difficult, because we're trapped between being rational and irrational, mature and immature, child and adult.
Don't get me wrong-I'm not justifying the actions of people my age, even though there may be scientific evidence to back them. Going back to the Bible, God often uses young people to do great things for His kingdom. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the story of David, who wasn't even considered as being the potential future king. My favorite verse from the story of David and Goliath is
"David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."" (1 Samuel 17:45)Think about it-here's a young man, a boy, really, standing against this giant. Older and stronger men refuse to take the stand against Goliath, and yet David knows God and is able to discern His will. More than that, he steps out in faith, armed with just that sling and a stone, "in the name of the LORD Almighty"!
The story of David is a popular one even outside of the church. Everybody loves an "underdog," after all. But what I think many people fail to notice, even within the church, is that he didn't come armed with that sling and stone. He didn't rely on his superior skills, honed by years of guarding the sheep. He relied on God, trusting Him to do the work and make his aim true. I bet that if David hadn't had the sling and the stone, he would have still gone up to that line, trusting in God to make a way!
I just finished up 1 Timothy the other night. I actually read a bilingual Bible, translating the Spanish before reading the English, and it makes me really think about each word. One of the most famous verses of this book is the ever-popular "Youth Group" verse, 1 Timothy 4:12
"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."The Spanish, when translated literally from my Bible and rearranged to fit English syntax, says "Let nobody disparage you for being young. To the contrary, let the believers see in you an example to follow in the way of speech, in behavior, and in love, faith, and purity."
See how the meaning changes just a bit? The original English commands us to set an example, whereas the Spanish tells us to let them see an example in us. They ultimately have the same result, but the English suggests being very deliberate about setting this example to me, whereas the Spanish tells us to let them see. It reminds me of the verses where Jesus tells His followers not to pray as the hypocrites do, for all to hear, or not to let the one hand know what the other is doing. If we're really living our faith out, people are going to notice on their own.
So how does this apply to me? I'm not entirely sure yet. In my experience, God doesn't give us the whole picture. We're expected to go step by step, choice by choice, and obey Him and the road we are to take will gradually be made clear to us. Like with my choice to try to interpret, or David's choice to refuse to allow Goliath to insult his God.
All my life, I've been told that I can be anything that I set my mind to. I've grown up in one of the most prosperous nations of all time and have had many opportunities that others can only dream of. I'm old enough now to understand that I can't literally be whatever I want-I'm too broke to run for President, for example, not that I'd want to try-but God has a plan for me, for each of His children, that goes far beyond what we might imagine for ourselves.
Right now, my dream is to live in a Spanish-speaking country. I don't know which yet-my trip to the Dominican Republic was life-changing and I have an open invitation to go back whenever I want, but that's the only other country I've ever been to. A really good friend of mine-remember Nelson from the interpreting story?-just went back to Chiapas, Mexico, about two months ago, and he said that he would pay for me to go visit someday. Right now, my plan is to just work on learning as much Spanish as I can and wait for the opportunities to arise.
That's not much of a plan, is it? Well, often times when we plan, things "don't work out." I put this in quotes because of course they work out-God's plans are infinitely better than our own!-but oftentimes we're just too shortsighted to look at the bigger picture. Going back to the article I mentioned at the beginning of my blog, I'm young, I'm changing, I'm growing. I've a lot to learn, not only about Spanish, but also about the world-about relationships, about love, about God (not necessarily in that order!). Little by little, day by day, I'm getting there. God has great expectations for me, and I know He will see them through!
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