After a
little while, I was led to open up my Bible. You know how sometimes people haphazardly open the Bible to a passage of
Scripture that is spot-on? That doesn’t
happen often, if it all, to me but it did that day.
I flipped
the Bible open and landed on II Chronicles 26 and read through the end of the
book. The phrase, “when he became king”
occurs a lot, but I was struck by what preceded it:
“…sixteen years old”
“…twenty-five years old”
“…twenty years old”
“…twenty-five years old”
“…twelve years old”
“…twenty-two years old”
“…eight years old”
“…twenty-three years old”
“…twenty-five years old”
“…eighteen years old”
“…twenty-one years old”
They were
all, actually, quite young; these kings were at least two years younger than I am now when they
took the throne. For now, let’s set aside the
argument that life expectancy rates were probably lower long ago (or were
they? I mean, Abraham was like a 100
years old when Isaac was born…).
My
generation seems to delay the onset of adulthood, as well-expounded upon by the
New York Times, and most of the CEOs and chief statesmen I know of are mostly middle aged
or older. In the U.S., one of the requirements for being eligible for the
presidency is being at least thirty-five years old.
All that
makes the prospect of a teenager or a twenty-something assuming such a position
of authority remarkable, doesn’t it? I
mean, Prince William will be well on in years by the time he’s crowned king of
England. News of Kim Jong-il’s son, Kim
Jong-un (who’s either my age or one year older), being named next in line to
rule in N. Korea made me pause and reflect on where I am in life.
I read
about those guys, who are my peers, and think, wow, I couldn’t imagine myself assuming
leadership at that level. The thought of
me co-leading a group of twenty-five twenty-somethings; being part of the
praise team; sitting on the missions committee at church; and being a voting
member of the congregation at my age feels daunting enough sometimes.
The
thought of assuming more responsibility on the marketing team, I’m not gonna lie,
slightly terrifies me. Exciting, yes,
but scary nonetheless (especially in the light of these past few weeks on the
job) that I’ll be handling a bulk of the communications of an entire organization. Just typing that makes me nervous and almost nauseous (not really, but it’s possible).
But God
had something else to say through those chapters of II Chronicles. Yes, there’s more to come in the future, but there’s a lot
for me to have now. I’m wasting my time if I’m waiting until I hit my
thirties or forties to make a real impact. In fact, I read of these kings and I see that I just might be past my
prime!
As I read those passages, I felt like God’s telling me and my generation, “Stop
waiting around, don’t delay anymore!” Satan wants us to think we’re too young,
we lack the experience, preparation, skills and wherewithal to make an impact
or contribute significantly. Our enemy
is trying to buy himself time, because he knows once we step into our destiny,
he’s dunzo.
this is why youth ministry, college ministry, and even young adult ministry is
so challenging – because these age groups – we – are crucial in advancing kingdom. Satan is more aware of our God-given potential than most of us are.
attack. The abuse, the anger, the apathy, the bitterness, the confusion, the cruelty, the depression, the distractions, the doubt, the emptiness, the entitlement, the fear,
the insecurity, the ignorance, the laziness, the pain, the oppression, the selfishness, the vanity and any other vice or evil I’ve omitted – they’re his arsenal.
this is why Paul had to tell Timothy:
“Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because
you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by
love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving
counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the
leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed-keep that dusted off and in
use.” (I Timothy 4:11-14, The Message).
I am relatively young, I just keep getting older. It’s a strange double-standard;
for example, my mom wonders when I’ll get married and have kids (she was about
my age when I was born), yet finds it incredible for me to have a boss that’s
my age (actually, he’s two months younger). I’m glad that when I hit twenty-five, I went on the World Race and got
initiated. Not quite the same as being
crowned, but a grand start nonetheless.
Aaaand that’s what I got out of my “quiet” time.
