Have you ever been discredited because of your age?  "You're too young."  "Maybe when you're older."  Honestly, every time somebody puts me down because of my age, I want to take my Bible and beat them over the head with it.  ...And then I ponder this thought and realize that it might go against the whole, "I'm mature," idea, and probably against the Christ-follower persona as well.

I like to quote the verse Jeremiah 1:7, where the Lord says, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.'  You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you."

You can be eight years old and have a specific purpose for your life that is meant to happen right now.  Think about children who have made a difference.  Did you know that Mozart was composing music at five years old?  Fifteen year old Tara Lipinksi became the youngest person to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics.  And who could forget Mattie Stepanek who raised awareness for muscular dystrophy and published six books of poetry before his death at age thirteen?  There are so many young people who have made a difference in the world.  You do not have to be thirty, forty, fifty years old to do something worthwhile with your life.  You can start right now, at whatever age you are.

I have always had big hopes and dreams.  Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to do things that most people wouldn't even consider.  I have memories of when I was eight or nine years old.  "What do you want to be when you grow up?" a beaming adult would ask me.  I would grin right back at them and reply, "An international journalist."  How's that for a startling answer from an elementary-aged child? 

Could you believe that somebody has said to me before, "I know you want to do all of these things, Emily, but wait until you get a good skill... wait until after you graduate college, and then you can do what God wants you to do."  People have told me that as a seventeen year old girl, my brain hasn't developed enough for me to realize what God's plan is for me.  People have told me that I can't actually know God's purpose for me until I'm out of my twenties.  This is what the enemy is putting into our minds. 

I don't want to be put in a box labeled, "Useless until college graduation."  I want to be considered a child of Christ with a purpose already set in motion for my life, starting now, even if it means for me to do something almost incomprehensible if you aren't looking through God's eyes.

1 Timothy 4:12 says, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity."

Jesus has a plan for me.  I can already taste it.  I can already feel Him touching my heart.  However, I feel hindered by false assumptions.  When people look at me, I fear that all they see is a seventeen year old junior in high school instead of the potential that I have as an instrument of the Lord.  "Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am." (Philippians 4:13, The Message)

I encourage you to erase all judgment from your mind and focus instead on having blind faith.  Nowhere in the Bible does God encourage you to wait until you are "old enough" to change the world.  No, in many instances, He purposely used young people to fulfill His plan, people like Samuel and King David and Esther and Timothy. 

The Lord uses the young to change the hearts of the old.

If you're young and eager like I am, then keep up the good faith.  Let no one's false prejudice keep you from following God's plan.  He does have a purpose for you, and it's never too early to begin fulfilling His call.

Wednesdays are chapel days at my school.  Last Wednesday, my friends and I walked into the auditorium to find the floor littered with newspapers and magazines.  Loud music blared from the speakers as the praise team played hectic guitar and drum solos.  Phones were ringing.  A strobe light flashed by the doorway.  And on top of it all, our Bible teacher was sitting up front and giving the lesson like nothing was wrong. 

You might have been able to predict this already, but the lesson was about how to recognize distractions in your life that can take your focus away from God. 

I think that this is a very important topic to discuss and remember when you are trying to improve your walk with the Lord.  It can be so easy to become distracted while living your life that you don't remember to sit down and worship Him in peace.

We live in a world that is full of distractions: cell phones, movies, Facebook, Twitter, homework, stress, music, friends, heartache... 

How many times have you thought to yourself, "I should pray more often than I do... but I'm just so busy."?  Surely I'm not the only one who has done this.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God."  I think He made Himself pretty clear here.

We were not meant to rush, rush, rush through our entire lives without continually stopping to take a break and focus on the Lord.  He is our Creator.  He made us to glorify Him.  In the beginning of time, when the Lord gave us a Sabbath day, His purpose was to give us a day where we could rest and worship Him for more than a few spare minutes before bed.

I heard somewhere that Martin Luther said that he usually prayed for an hour a day, but if he knew ahead of time that he was going to have a busy or stressful day, he started off his morning with three solid hours of prayer.  What an inspiration that is.  I feel proud of myself if I can fit in twenty minutes of solid, uninterrupted prayer in a single day... and you know, I even feel proud if I can squeeze in ten minutes.

When you sit in silence, God reveals so many things to you that you do not hear when your mind is full of worries and stress and chaos.  When you are still, your relationship expands to new heights that you could not comprehend unless you fully experience for it yourself. 

Even when you are rushing around, lost in the craziness of your life, you can be still.  Turn off the radio in your car.  Sit in the silence and listen to God and hear what He has to say.  Let Him speak to your heart, and you speak to Him as well.

I encourage you to set aside some God-time each day.  Make this a time where you turn off your computer, silence your cell phone, and go into a quiet room and shut the door.  Erase every distraction from your life and focus entirely on God.  Praise Him with every stitch of your heart, every ounce of your being.  He is worth every moment of your existence... not a meager few minutes each day.

Zechariah 2:13
"Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."

Psalm 37:7
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."

Exodus 14:14
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."