I saw myself in those juvenile delinquents

“I HAVE A HOPE AND A FUTURE!” they repeated after Pastor Zack, shouting the phrase louder and louder each time. I started to get goose bumps witnessing these teenagers screaming those powerful words about themselves.

We were at a juvenile correction center, sharing our stories of what God had done in our own lives, and bringing encouragement to these young people, some of whom had been completely written off by society, and their families, labeled as thieves, druggies, unworthy.

Staring back in awe at their faces as they declared that truth over their lives, I was moved with compassion. I saw myself in them. I saw the same burning questions in their eyes that I had when I was their age; “Am I worthy?” “Do I have a future?” “Is there any hope for me?” “Will I ever amount to anything?” “Does anyone believe in me?”

We were standing before them as an answer to those questions… YES! You are worthy! You have a hope! You have a future! You are NOT your past! WE believe in you! GOD believes in you! You are LOVED! You are NOT forgotten!

I struggled as a teenager. I acted out in various ways; anger, drug use, self-injury, rebelling against authority. I didn’t care. I didn’t apply myself at school. I believed I was stupid, so why try? It wasn’t until I found Jesus (or when He found me I should say) that I began to believe that I had a future in Him. That I had a purpose in this life. That I was worthy of love, of His love even. That there was Someone out there who believed in me and hadn’t given up on me.

And yet even so,­­ here I am at 29 years old, and this is something I am just recently learning to walk in. Or should I say, that I am finally choosing to believe the truth and not listen to those age-old lies about myself anymore.

That I am not my past. That my past behaviors, past beliefs or circumstances don’t dictate what my future will look like. I am not bound by my past. My past scars are just that; scars. The things I went through as a child and teenager will always be a part of me…but they can no longer affect me.

I admit I have struggled with trusting God with my future. I have often felt anxious over what He had planned for me, not fully trusting that it was going to be good.

So as these young African children were screaming and learning to believe that they had a hope and a future, I was deeply moved as I realized God Himself was not only screaming that over them, He was screaming that over me. “YOU HAVE A HOPE! AND A FUTURE!”

I had a rough childhood. I struggled in my teen years, and even into my adulthood. I went through fire and flood, but God is bringing me to a place of great abundance. Not an abundance of worldly possessions but of eternal possessions; an abundance of purpose, an abundance of fulfillment, an abundance of joy and laughter…an abundance of hope.

I wrote in my journal the other day, “I don’t have to fear my future as long as You, Jesus, are a part of it.” And if there is anything I have learned after being a christian for 10 years is that He will never leave me nor forsake me. He will never give up on me. He is always with me. And that is a future worth hoping for.