Jesus is the only answer for your troubled teen

Destiny is quite possibly the most powerful force in our lives. In the life of an American teenager "destiny" is misunderstood, or not understood at all. In the peer culture of the American adolescent "destiny" rarely goes past the "present moment". They live for the "now", regardless of the long-term consequences. Especially in regard to troubled teens or struggling teens, their mentality is not focused on their future; it is all about seeking comfort for the moment.

In many cases the comfort they seek in the present moment (drugs, alcohol, dark music, sex, etc.), is the pain they reap upon themselves in the future and they do not even realize it. The comfort they seek now leads to the destructive behaviors that paralyze their emotional and spiritual growth. Yes, through immediate comfort they get what they want for the moment, but in the long run they give up their destiny. The price is too much to pay, and many are beginning to realize it.

The mentality of the world teaches our children that they can be anything they want to be (self-realization). It is a big lie. For example, not everyone is destined to play in the NFL or NBA. Not every child is meant to be a rap star, or a model. To teach a child that they can attain anything through hard work, despite many realities to the contrary is to mislead them. Destiny is not about working hard and making all the right moves, rather true destiny is something that we are born to accomplish. Our destiny is in Christ.

"...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of His glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved..." Ephesians 1:4-6

According to the Bible we were all created in God's own image, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them..." Genesis 1:27-28. Corporately, God made us to be fruitful, to multiply, and exercise dominion over the whole earth. Individually, God made us to perform a specific purpose that fulfills the corporate destiny. Obviously, our teenagers were not destined to be defiant or destructive, to abuse drugs, or to rebel against their parents and other authorities. Although, in too many cases this is the fact. The reason our children are missing their destiny? It is because there is an enemy, and the Bible names him... the great liar and deceiver, Satan. The enemy is out to take down our youth. His purpose is to keep our youth from walking in their God-ordained destiny, which is to good works.

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All people, especially the youth of America, were created for a specific purpose. Each of us, including the adolescents who are currently acting out, has a powerful destiny to fulfill. We each have been given special talents and skills in order to walk in our destiny. The problem is that the enemy is real, and his goal is to keep each of us from manifesting the glory of God through the fulfillment of our destiny in Christ.

"For whom He did foreknow, He also did pre-destined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also Glorified." Romans 8:29-30.

Today's acting out adolescents are an integral part of God's purposes in the earth. So important is every teenager that God raised them up for this specific time in history. They are all important, especially those who are now rebellious and lost. God saw our every failure, our every shortcoming, our every sin, and still chose us to accomplish His purposes in earth. He chose us to accomplish His purpose before we were formed in the womb, before we were born.

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"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations..." Jeremiah 1:5

God did not choose us because of our abilities, or our righteous acts. He did not choose us because of our obedience, faithfulness, or character. He chose us before we were formed in the womb, before we ever did a righteous act of faith or obedience. We are precious in the site of our Heavenly Father. He chose us regardless of what we have done, because the important thing is not what we can do for Him, it is what Jesus can do through us.

Some of us believe that the Father is looking for those qualities that we produce by our effort, (i.e., our righteousness, and our faithfulness). Again, God is not interested in our righteous acts, or our faithfulness. He chose us based upon His deposit of Christ in us... for He has made available to us the ability to walk in His power, His obedience, and His faithfulness. All of these are the product of our union with Christ, not a product of our effort. Our ultimate destiny is to manifest the particular and specific deposit of Christ that the Father has placed in us.

Therefore, the acting out teenager is really only a child of God that does not yet understand that he was created to fulfill a specific purpose of God. Needless to say, he is lost only because he is seeking fulfillment through means that will never deliver. Currently, he is deceived believing that he will find peace and fulfillment outside of God's will. Until he understands who he is meant to be in Christ, he will continue to behave in such a way as to bring forth anguish and torment. Unfortunately, those around him will suffer along with him.

Our destinies are often revealed through trials and tribulations. The difficulty that adolescents go through could be the very thing that reveals their destiny. Through the trials and tribulations God often reveals the schemes of the enemy. As the schemes are revealed, trials and tribulations can then be used as stepping-stones that lead us to our destiny.

Embedded in the very fabric of your destiny is the enablement to fulfill it. God has not equipped the American adolescent to be successful through defiance, disobedience, drug use, or any other anti-social activity. The ability to fulfill our destiny is woven into our fabric, a part of our DNA. For example, one of the greatest inherent needs is the "need for significance". We all have it, and teens do all kinds of inappropriate things to try to fill that need. The only way for any of us to fulfill the need for significance is to walk in our God-ordained destiny. Destiny is not something you can make happen; rather it is something that makes YOU happen.

Freedom

There is a battle raging for the soul of every teenager. Therefore, the only reasonable course that we have is to understand the battle, fight it, and be victorious. The battle is between good and evil, God and satan. It is a battle for life of the youth of America, and their soul is the prize of the winner. Understanding this battle will mean everything to the life of a teenager. Everyday, the enemy is either taking ground, or ground is being taken back.

God created us to be free, as we can never fulfill our destiny without the freedom to do so. God gives us freedom to choose between good and evil. He also gives us the choice between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness. It is up to us. God gives us the option to choose Him and His liberty, and the enemy tries to force us to give up our liberty in return for his false promises. Furthermore, where God wants us to walk in freedom, the enemy's goal is trap us in bondage and torment.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty..." 2 Corinthians 3:17

The basic difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness is that God wants to set us free through power and liberty, and the enemy wants to imprison us in fear, oppressions, and bondage. In the Kingdom of God there is faith and freedom, and in the Kingdom of darkness there is hopelessness and peril.

Freedom involves choice, and with choice there is consequence, both good and bad. This means that with freedom comes "responsibility" and "accountability". If one desires to be free, one also must be responsible and accountable. The enemy deceives the teenager into believing that there is no value in being responsible or accountable. As a result the enemy deceives the teenager into believing that responsibility and accountability are against them and only results in being held back. However, we are all called to rule with God. Since God will not release true authority without a corresponding commitment to responsibility and accountability, those who refuse to be responsible and accountable never attain the true freedom and are forever held in bondage.