Ok...so I have come to the painful conclusion that I am not the vibrant, invincible high energy youth that I used to be! I quizzed my more intelligent friends on facebook today about the old saying... "something is lost on youth!" There were many interesting answers but the correct one was "youth is wasted on the young."
Oh how I long for the days when I could roof houses all day long, hang out with my friends all evening and still get up the next day and do it all again. I suppose it is as close to being a superhero as I will ever get. Now my days are filled with crawling out of bed having felt like I just got in it. Listening to my knees grind and pop more than a high school pep squad techno dance routine. Putting my years of experience to work at the revered pace of a polka dance at the Senior Center and still going home so tired I cant fix my own coffee, or wash the dishes, or help with the chores. Ok... so that may be stretching it a little but you get the ideal. Yes, it would be easy for me to understand that youth truly is wasted on the young.
But last night was enlightening if not downright intimidating! We had the incredible Go Ministries team (www.goministries.net) at the church. Now for the unprepared let me just give you a quick tutorial. Imagine if you would.... taking a room full of 8 year old boys, giving them each 2 dozen Southern Maid donuts and a 6 pack of Red Bull and standing back to watch what happens next. If you could harness the energy produced by such an experiment you could power all of North America for 3 weeks! But even that amount of energy pails in comparison to the Holy Spirit infused exhibition of pure, unbridled energy that the Go Ministries team brought, shared, and imparted at New Life Center last night.
It was in this high energy environment of youth worshiping before God that I had this thought.... "youth is wasted on the young." But then, it hit me. Youth is not "wasted" on the young, it is God's investment in the young! You see, God knows what he is doing.... and HE chose to give the endless energy and vitality of youth... to the youth. But why? I realized last night why God chose to give youth the energy and the strength to worship with abandon... and dance before the Lord as if they do not have a care in the world.
The reason God gave them this ability is because He knows that they WILL dance and they WILL jump and they WILL worship before Him! Unfortunately, we old folks become to "refined" and dignified to just let it all go. It is sad to even admit that so many of my generation will in fact look down on the youth and consider them foolish and unspiritual. The truth of the matter is that many of these young people are much deeper in the spirit than we have been in many years!
My prayer is that God gives me the insight to see the depth of love that He has for them, and that they have for Him. I pray that I never get so old that I cannot just let go..... or so cold that I cannot just let God! May I humble myself in my own eyes and worship as if no one was looking, sing as if only ONE can hear and dance as if I have just been raised from the dead... because in reality... isn't that what being a believer is all about!
At 18 you pretty much have the world going for you, but there is one thing lacking: perspective. That's why they need us (even though they don't know it)!
ReplyDeleteBtw, 2 dozen donuts and a six-pack of Red Bull sounds GREAT!