Feeling Under Pressure?

Last year, I could not have written this post. I was a prisoner to fear and depression. Satan took advantage of every doubtful thought and the anxiety crippled me. It made me so physically sick I ended up in the hospital. Another time I should have been in the hospital but instead I sat cold and afraid in my dark car watching the rain fall like tears on my windshield. Thoughts so dark entered my mind. I thought surely no one could save me.

Today I want to talk about feeling under pressure.

Because the more time I spend with teens the more my heart aches for the amount of pressure they face today.  Our culture normalizes things like premarital sex, aggressive behavior and rule breaking.

The world is telling our youth to fit in you need to wear name brands or look a certain way or even accepted believes and lifestyles that we don’t agree with.

We need to Remember that the enemy is working hard to get our kids. The one thing he can’t do though is steal what God has for them however what he can steal is there confidence.  And when he steals that its impossible to live the amazing plan God has for them and that’s exactly what the enemy wants!

You can raise your kids in a great christian home, go to church and youth groups but we need to remember no one is exempt from this.  I mean God is perfect and he struggles with his children because we live in a broken world.

But What if I told you peace is a person and that person is Jesus? God so amazingly designed us in his likeness.

the Bible tells us

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

There is so much hope and freedom from pressure in this verse.

We don’t need to run from pressure because God allows pressure and adversity in our lives to one; get our attention, realize our weaknesses and ultimately cry out to God to help us. Like any loving parent we discipline our children to grow maturity. Thankfully our Heavenly Father does the same for us.

The pain and sorrow of adversity helps us recognize the deception of sin. If it wasn’t for the pain of this last year I don’t think I would have realized all the lies the enemy was telling me… lies I believed to be true. (you can read my journal here). Our hatred of evil will increase when we realize how sin keeps us from living in a way that honors God and how it damages our lives and the lives of the ones we love.

Adversity helps us to reevaluate the priorities in our life. Are spending enough time preserving the most important aspects of our lives? As the verse above says what is seen is temporary and the unseen is eternal and eternal glory will FAR outweigh our troubles.

But for now in this life its going to be how we approach and handle pressure and adversity.  the Bible says “iron sharpens iron” and  “two are better then one” yes as parents we are the first example but  we don’t have to do it all ourselves and can’t rely on just, church, private school, or youth group to keep our kids on the narrow path.  We need to recognize that our teens are struggling to be accepted and find their place and that’s why we need to saturate their lives the love, acceptance and hope of Jesus.

This is exactly the mission of the PWL community.  A safe place where teens are encouraged and guided to find where their purpose and passion collide.  A place to get excited about Jesus and foster a passion to become a strong leader for the kingdom.  A place to connect and make friends with like minded teens to help mentor each other.

We were created and wired to desire God so its imperative in todays world to help our youth say yes to a life of standing out for Christ in a world that says no fit in.

If we can accept and embrace God’s purposes for our difficulties, we will experience the power of Christ in our lives! We can trust that God cares for us and will provide all that we need. That is so exciting!

The first month is always free so sign your teens up today and watch their lives change. If you are struggling today and need encouragement please reach out, I would love to talk to you.

Have a blessed everyone