Welcome to 2019, your best year yet! To all of the hard working young youth leaders, I would like to start off by encouraging you all to work diligently on your new year and what you’ve promised yourselves this year.
I do remember when we were going through life’s unforgiving challenges, we read in Isaiah 40:31, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
I especially liked this scripture because my understanding is that God can take you from your lowest lows to your highest heights. All you need to do is believe God’s promises to us. Don’t you want to soar with the eagles?
We can utilize this new year as a clean slate to begin doing something divergently in order to get a different result and move closer to whatever we aspire to do with our lives. Believe in yourselves that we are all able to access all of God’s promises. As stated in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Do your very best to do what you know is right. Little by little, things will start to change around you. Be a part of the change you would like to continue to grow older with. This is what I continue to do. As a 13-year-old, I do feel it’s superficial for people to overlook what I’m doing by creating the change I need in my young life through writing.
I’ve had to undergo odious and challenging experiences at a very young age. I don’t regret my life or anything I’ve had to endure because it’s part of who I am. I encourage you to read Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
This is another one of God’s promises, imploring us to rely on him for all of our needs. Young readers, take advantage of this promise in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
The joy in knowing Jesus loves us and only wants the best for us is the reason that I have empathy for others, which is an important component of me, as I encourage other youth. Though, I remember I wasn’t always treated like I mattered, my mom’s kind words reassured me, letting me know that I mattered to God.
