I have several college age young people in my class at church, and it occurred to me to compare and contrast my Christian faith today with the way I lived it at their age. Actually, I met Christ when I was 28, so not exactly college age.
I told them my faith today is much less stressful. I no longer worry about the little things. God has taken us older Christians through so much that it is much easier to depend on Him for our needs and to support us in the things we do for Him. As we age in Christ, we become no less dedicated, just a little mellower. A bit of a warning here, though: our trials and challenges sometimes are much larger as we mature.
When I was saying this to my class, I was thinking of two particular passages. The first was Genesis chapter 22 which speaks of Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac. The chapter begins with “after these things.” I believe it means after all the things Abraham went through beginning in chapter 12 when God called him out of Ur up to chapter 22.
The things Abraham went through, the mistakes he made, the lies he told, the trials God put him through, and the victories he experienced had all prepared him for God’s request that he would sacrifice his son, to trust and serve God faithfully.
We older Christians are like that. We’ve been through the trials, we’ve seen God work in our lives and in the lives of others. Our faith has grown stronger because of it. We have learned a lot about God’s grace, His patience, and His plan. We doubt less and trust more now. We still face out trials and obstacles but with a little less dred. James says that in the beginning of his epistle. He says our trials produce endurance or patience. So, the more trials we face, the more patient we should be.
Then I thought of 2 Chronicles chapter 20 where Israel was about to be slaughtered by a huge combined force from surrounding nations. What did the Israelites do? Jehoshaphat stood before the people and praised God for His blessings and asked for His help. God’s response was, “I got this.” The people were not to worry. God would conquer these nations for His children. The next day, the Israelites went out. They marched to the battlefield singing “Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.” When they reached their destination, they found the enemy armies had been wiped out, all of them. The armies were so large it took the Israelites three days to glean the goods and precious things from the dead. And, they marched back to Jerusalem singing praises again.
If you’re a young Christian reading this, remember God is telling you “I got this” when you’re worried about the trials you might be experiencing or face those who stand against you in your quest to live a righteous life. While you might think you’re alone, He’s there and in charge.
As some of you know, back in March I was “pushed” by a Christian friend to contact the local community college asking if they would be interested in a class about the truth of Christianity for the community education department.
I sent an email to the school fully expecting to have it laughed at. The next morning I was asking God what would I do if they actually accepted the class. You know. God will cause these sorts of things to happen, allow impossible things to take place if it will give glory to Him. I was nervous, but he told me “I got this,” and I was at peace. The next Monday, I got a response to the email telling me the school would like to offer the class in the Summer. I was certain they misunderstood what the class would entail, so I sent them a detailed outline explaining exactly what I would like to do: teach what Christianity believes and why we believe it’s true. Their response was that they would like to offer it in the fall as well. This Thursday will be the last session of the first summer class. God has blessed.
I recently asked the school if they would be interested in a class on the first three centuries of church history, and they loved the idea and said they could offer it in the spring.
Sometimes, you just have to go with what God moves you to do. When a blessing or a solution seems impossible even ridiculous, just remember what God told Jehoshaphat: “I got this,” and head on out to the battlefield praising God for His love endures forever.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 