My friend PJ over at the Link youth group in KW asked me to write an article for their newsletter a month ago. It was written to high schoolers with one question to be answered: what’s one thing you wish you were told when you were young? Here’s what I wrote:

I’m a late bloomer.

I wish I knew it was okay to dream big and start young.

We’ve all heard THE verse: “do not let people look down on you because you are young, but set an example in life, love, faith, and purity.” But that’s the starting blocks, not the finish line.  I’m assuming you’re growing and setting an example in these for areas.  If you’re not, get in community and get some older wiser people to lead you there.

We live in a culture that expects very little from you as teenagers.  If you haven’t read the book by the Harris brothers, you need to… it’s called “Do Hard Things.”

Truth is, you’ve bought the lie.  That you can’t achieve the things God lays on your heart…yet.

But ’someday’ is the poison that ruins ‘today.‘  Because today is all you have.  And you need to steward every moment.

What CAN be done by young people?

• Did you know they used to let kids run the New York Marathon?
• My wife started an organization that reached 20,000 college kids in the first 6 months. She was 19.
• I have a Twitter friend in South Africa who makes over $10,000 per month online. (he’s 20)
• My buddy Kevin became a pastor at a downtown Toronto church at age 20.
• I started a scrappy little blog that’s reached over 10,000 people in the past 9 months. (I know, I’m old at 23)
• Did you know there’s a development bank founded in India that’s run by street kids? They have 79 locations in 6 countries, and no one’s over 18.

Small things, big things, all things.  Everything must be done to the glory of God.  Miss that and you’ve missed it all.

So why not ask Him what He could use YOU for…right now?

William Carey was a shoemaker who taught himself another language and became the first missionary in India. He paved the way for the big Mama T. His life chorus was “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”

What’s going to stop you?

1. You. Lazy you. Distracted you. Sinful you.

2. Others. Others putting you down. Others discouraging you. Others distracting you.  Others not expecting much of you.

3. Satan. Get some prayer partners, some godly mentors, and a holy community. Resist the devil, and he’ll get lost.

But you gotta fight through.  You must dream big and start young.

Because what’s the worst that can happen?

You remain exactly as you are.
Trying can’t hurt!  “Shoot for the stars and you might land on a cloud.“  It’s pretty much the only smart thing Kanye West has ever said.

You miss out on what God created you to be and do.
In that case, did you ever really life at all?

You become a cynical old fart.
I know SO many people that are brutally cynical of my dreams. Even people in their early 20s.  Because they’ve ’settled’. They’re down with the status quo. They’re comfortable or unknowing or lazy or distracted.  You don’t want to become someone who not only doesn’t fulfill your dreams, but also discourages others.  The Bible says you should tie a rock around your neck and go for a swim.

Dreaming big and starting young isn’t easy.  But there’s a dude who sticks closer than a brother.

Rick Warren said it best: “if God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it.”

Rest in that.  Work in that. Play in that.

Dream big, start young.

Holla.
Jay Brock is a daily blogger at www.sexrev.org.
He and his wife Michelle run an organization that fights sex trafficking called Hope For the Sold.
His dream is to be a significant author and an elder that helps lead a rockin’ Jesus-centred church community.

Post-script

Here’s an afterthought- if you think that God can’t use you until you make more money or get a degree, does that mean that God alone isn’t big enough?