Chosen and faithful

     I am a teenager. I am easily persuaded. I am young. I am nïave. I am moldable. I am evolving. I am exposed to more choices constantly. So what is my rock? What is there to help me through the countless decisions life throws at me? I mean y'all, life is flat out HARD sometimes. Sometimes it even feels impossible to come out on top. So do you want the Sunday school, short and sweet, easy answer? Our help is Jesus. 

     How can that become more real? Don't get me wrong, Jesus is enough and He is the answer, but just saying "Jesus" doesn't seem to adequately explain the realness that name holds to this stubborn heart. I mean when you're faced with decisions, real life, hard decisions, just saying "Jesus" doesn't always give you a solution. 

     What if the root of the problem isn't "coming out on top"? (Let's be real, sometimes our version of "on top" or success isn't what God's plan for us is.) What if the real struggle begins with what we ultimately want to accomplish with the success? What we want the "ding ding ding" or the gold star to mean. Do we want it to mean "Hey look how much Jesus shows His face through this"? Or what about "Gosh don't you just want to praise our maker now for that showcase of His love?" I feel like more often than not, these aren't the reactions we're seaking when we're pleading for an answer. We aren't seeking out Jesus, we aren't trying to make Him known, we aren't being faithful to what His mission is for us. More often than not, especially as teenagers, the answer we're seeking is acceptance. It's inclusion. It's respect. It's envy. That's the enemy in us, urging us to choose popularity over kindness, to choose deceitfulness over love. 

     Guess what I love about Jesus though? He IS NOT surprised! He already knew we would make the choices we make. He already had a plan of action. He used his blood to wash us clean and as he took those final nails he thought of us and our yucky hearts. He read our minds because he made our minds! 

     He gave us a specific piece of encouragment and gentle reminding for these struggles. "They will go to war against the Lamb but the Lamb will defeat them, proof that he is Lord over all lords, King over all kings, and those with him will be the called, chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:12-14 MSG). He's constantly helping us. He is our help. He has always been, and He will always be our stronghold. And you know what else? At the end of the day, when our help comes back to rescue us, He will NOT call us "popular" or "deceitful". He will call us "chosen" and "faithful". 

     So i pray that that be my guide and your guide. Your new Sunday school answer for whatever the world has to throw your way, for whatever the enemy tries to whisper in your ear. Our loving and almighty father will not call us by our earthly "accomplishments". Instead, he will call us by what He longs for us to be, chosen and faithful.