A Question from a Youth

Whitestone42 wrote:
According to Psalm 1 whatever you do will prosper (if you have what is described in psalm 1) You can witness for Jesus no matter where you are or what you are doing.The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord. If "THE GOOD MAN" is living inside of you he will direct your paths (as long as you acknowledge him in ALL your ways). My advise is seek Gods face, fast and "pray through" till you have the answer from the LIVING SAVIOR ...JESUS CHRIST.
God bless you in Jesus name... Amen.

Dear Mikah, I love your attitude, and understand your impatience with apparently pointless "worldly" activities, in contrast with witnessing.

There's an old hymn with the title
"Trust and obey" - all about walking in the Lord.

I still tend to want to run before I can walk - and I'm old enough to be your granny(!) but the only way is step-by-step and let Him take care of the goals.

You mentioned that Jesus began His public ministry aged 30. This was the OT age for priests to begin their duties. Ezekiel was 30 when he had his first vision. Jeremiah, (also from a priestly family) when he heard the call of God thought he was too young - presumably because he hedn't yet reached this age. John Baptist again from a priestly family, began his work aged about 30 (he was 6 months older than Jesus)

But Samuel was called when he was a child, and Moses had to wait till he was 80 to even begin the calling to lead his people to freedom, that I personally believe was on his heart when he was 40!

Remember what Samuel said, when the Lord called him, and he didn't know who was calling him?

He just ran and said to Eli, "here I am!"

Such is the simplicity of a child.

In other words just do what the Lord tells you, and you'll be OK!

Blessings

Jeannette

Guidance is a strange thing. Looking back over my very varied career some of it seems a bit of a waste of time, but nothing is a waste in God's plan.

And sometimes He does tell us to do something that we can't see any use for, or any opportunity to use a particular skill or training.

An odd example was in 1997 or 8. I had managed to buy a small word processor - very limited compared to a computer - but never thought of being able to afford a computer.

Then I began to feel that it was important to take computer lessons. There were drop-in classes at the local library so I went along, still wondering why. There wasn't any direct guidance from God, just the feeling that it was important to learn.

Then a cousin died and left me some money - just enough to buy a computer! There were other things that were needed, like a three-piece suite (a friend had given me their old one, already very worn but still useful, but the moths had got into it!). Yet it [i]had[/i] to be a computer. Even though (not too many people had pc's then, and the Internet hadn't long begun to take off) I had no idea what use it could be!

So don't despise learning new skills or taking college courses or other training, you never know!

Blessings

Jeannette

I may not be the person to respond but since I'm 17 (a youth too), I think I can say something. What I wanted to say was that you must remember to walk by faith and not by sight. So many people will stress things which can be seen and the unseen goes unnoticed.

Paul said

you must remember to walk by faith and not by sight.

When I was about to leave school, the only thing in my mind which I felt able to learn, was nursing. But I was depressed the whole way through. So when I finished, I left. My grandmother was horrified at my being unemployed, as she had been very clever, and was headhunted when she had left school, by the Manager of a local business (where she worked happily for ten years before getting married).

I kicked my heels for 6 months, until one day (she had been thinking about this) she said 'Why don't you go and learn ... X and Y ... because they're always useful?'

[u]Immediately[/u] I knew that [b]God[/b] had spoken to me, and I soon arranged to attend a course (for which my grandmother had offered to pay part of the fee). As I woke up on the first day of the course, (and for every day over at least the first three weeks), I was overwhelmed with the sense of peace from being in the centre of His will. I proceeded to get a handful of useful certificates, and went to work in the field briefly, until I was invited to join a friend on another course, which I also loved - and worked in [i]that[/i] field for several years.

Literally twenty years went by, before I was to need the skills I learned at my grandmother's suggestion, but they have proved to be consistently related to one of the ministries God has developed in me, and useful for others.

There are other things I've had the chance to learn about through social interactions (like computers), or shutting myself away with a chord chart and learning the guitar, which God has used. People are full of potential. Some people are called to give themselves wholly to a field of work like medicine, while others are regularly challenged to learn new things, or add expertise to a basic opportunity.

Our brother Eli Barnabas (Eli Brayley) was at university (edit: I think), but felt the call of God on his life to preach, and with the support of his family has dedicated himself to that from a young age.

Don't imagine, though, that evangelism is only possibly when you don't have a job. It is more likely that evangelism is more possible when you [i]do[/i] have a job, so you can afford the resources, and to travel. And if you've got to 'work', you may as well try to choose a field you think you'll enjoy.

If you cultivate clean language, don't listen to smut and don't spread what people share with you,people notice these things (even if they rib you for them), and you will have many opportunities to share truth in a fuller way with those who are ready - at their request sometimes.