Rushed and/or Reminiscent

Alive Youth Church Weekly,

Welcome to AYC’s weekly blog. Give it a read, share it with a friend, use it to invite others to AYC, or to stay in the loop if you missed a week. 

This is where I share what’s going on at Alive Youth Church every Sunday night at 6:30pm, along with some midweek thoughts, and sneak peeks at next week's message. 

I am so happy, proud, thankful, and lots of other great emotions, watching you all get closer to Jesus. We have the best students at Alive Youth Church! Thank you, Lord, for your work at AYC. I am excited to see where You lead us!

Stay around and read. I think it's a good one. 

You’re Not Behind

But You Might Be Distracted

There’s this weird pressure in middle school and high school where it feels like everyone else is ahead of you. The pressure really sets in college and the few years after. 

Someone already knows what they want to do with their life.
Someone has already been accepted to the school they wanted.
Someone already started something.
Someone already found “their person.”

Someone gets better grades.
Someone already seems spiritually locked in.

And you’re just… figuring it out.

Our phones definitely don’t help.

You see highlight reels. Wins. Announcements. Big moments. 

My wife and I have a joke about Instagram lately, because it feels like every single time we open the app, a different person is announcing their engagement or a pregnancy. A product of being in your twenties, I guess. We all see each other's lives, usually the rose colored version people want you to see, but it still has an effect on us. And you start asking yourself, “Am I behind?”

Here’s the truth: you’re not.

But that doesn’t mean the pressure isn’t real.

Comparison has a way of slowly discipling you. Changes how you act and think. It trains your heart to measure faithfulness by what's visible. It convinces you that if it’s not impressive, it’s not important.

I would argue that the visually impressive things are really the less important things, and often they are easier to accomplish. Consistent hard work is way more impressive, way more important, just not as easily seen. 

God is not working off your friend’s timeline.

He’s not stressed about how fast your life is moving.

We are.
We are stressed about timing.
We rush growth.
We rush purpose.

I don't care how old you are... You usually wish you were a different age. Middle schoolers want to be in high school. High schoolers want to be in college. College students want to be back in high school or finally out of school, working. Adults want to be kids again, 30-year-olds wish they were still 20, 40-year-olds miss their 30s, 50-year-olds are having a midlife crisis and wish they were 20 again, 60-year-olds are living with the results of that midlife crisis and wish they were 50 again to do it differently. I could go on and on and on.

We are all rushed or reminiscent. Leading to unhappiness in the present. 

Growth with God is rarely rushed.

Look at David. Anointed king as a teenager. Didn’t sit on the throne until years later. In his life, there were fields. There were sheep. There were caves. Some seasons looked nothing like “success.”

Look at Moses. Forty years in Egypt. Forty years in the wilderness. Then leadership.

Look at Jesus. Thirty hidden years. Three public ones.

We love the spotlight years. We love the highlights, the crowds, and the big wins.

God often does His deepest work in the hidden years.

Some of you feel behind spiritually. I have had many years of my life with this feeling.

You think you should pray more by now.
You think you should understand the Bible better.
You think you shouldn’t still struggle with the same sin.

Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” That means if God started something in you, He hasn’t abandoned it. 

Growth is proof He’s working. 

Struggle does not mean failure. It means formation. That God is working on you. And he will complete His work. Don't worry about His timing.  

But here’s where this gets challenging.

You’re not behind, but you can be distracted.

Hebrews 12:1 says to throw off everything that hinders you and run with perseverance the race marked out for you. 

You can’t run your race while staring at someone else’s lane.

Some of you aren’t behind. You’re just constantly looking sideways. 

Usain Bolt. Most of you know the name at least. A highly decorated Olympic sprinter. It quoted as saying "if you look left and right, you're not focused on the finish line."

In the one-hundred-meter dash, his most famous race, it's often a race of milliseconds. You can't look over to see if your competitors are catching up, or you'll slow down yourself and lose. 

Sometimes we get distracted by comparisons.

And comparison slows our obedience. 

You delay starting because someone else started bigger.
You downplay your calling because someone else’s looks louder.
You hesitate stepping out because you feel late to the game.

But obedience isn’t about being first to act. It’s about being faithful to God.

At Alive Youth Church, we care way more about your direction than speed. Are you moving toward Jesus? That’s growth.

Movement requires action.

It’s showing up when you don’t feel like it.
It’s opening your Bible when you're busy.
It’s confessing sin instead of hiding it.
It’s choosing integrity when nobody would know.

Strong faith isn’t flashy. It’s consistent.

James 1 talks about not just hearing the word but doing it. Growth doesn’t come from agreeing with the truth. It comes from applying it.

So here’s the question:

If you’re not behind… what’s your next step?

Not your five-year plan.
Not your full life calling.

Don't freak out here, or get angry cause you don't know. 
What is your next act of obedience?

Maybe it’s consistency.
Maybe it’s cutting something off.
Maybe it’s actually praying instead of saying you will.
Maybe it’s serving instead of spectating.

You are not late.

You are not behind.

You are in the process.

But the process still requires your participation and your action.

Stop measuring your life against someone else’s. Run your race, Jesus is the finish line, don't get caught looking anywhere else. 

Keep trusting.
Keep obeying.

God is not asking you to be ahead.

He’s asking you to be faithful.

See you Sunday at 6:30pm. 

Spend time with Jesus today. He wants to spend time with you!

- Isaac Fehlen

Youth Pastor