“And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:6)
When I was an eighth grader, I fell in love with a ninth grader. She was my first love, and understandably the most beautiful girl I thought I had ever seen. She also came from a wealthy family, something to which I was not accustomed since I grew up in a lower middle class working family.
Back then, boys like me weren’t supposed to be with girls like her. Yet somehow, we really hit it off. She never looked down at me, and I never looked up at her. It was a really great relationship, one that I continue to treasure.
In my hometown, the school we attended was a junior high school, which housed grades seven through nine. After the ninth grade, students moved on to senior high school. Most schools systems have long since abandoned the junior and senior high school concept, but it’s important here because the end of her ninth grade year meant that she would move on, while I remained to finish my ninth grade year.
That year was heaven, but the inevitability of it all caught up with us. The school year was over and she was a soon-to-be tenth grader. On the last day of school, she broke up with me. I was devastated. In fact, I vividly remember one of my favorite teachers holding me as I cried my eyes out, promising me that all that pain I was experiencing would not last. She will never know how much her consolation helped me get through that day.
I went through the summer of my eighth grade year wondering if I would ever belong to anyone again. My self-worth was shattered by that experience. I look back now, older and wiser, wondering how I got over it so quickly. I certainly bounced back much more quickly than I would today.
I think God gives teenagers an added measure of resilience to cope with all the setbacks that adolescence seems to bring with it. I saw it in my own teenage experiences and I’ve noticed in the lives of my children.
I never thought I would ever experience again the deep sense of brokenness that I felt on that warm June day almost fifty years ago. But I did! The next time, however, I didn’t have the resilience to help me deal with it I knew I had to get down on to my knees and ask God to help me.
I will never forget that prayer. “Lord,” I prayed, “I know I have said this before, but if you could help me out one more time, I promise I won’t let you down again.”
The truth is that I’ve let him down time and time again since I said that prayer. He knew that I would all along. Yet he still answered my prayer and delivered me from my crisis.
The one thing I haven’t done this time around is turn my back on him. I finally learned that having the Lord to lean on in is better than a boatload of resilience. I depend on him now for both my strength and hope. I guess that what Solomon meant when he said, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)
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