Pushing the boundaries

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22: 6

For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. Genesis 18: 19

Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ Matthew 19: 14

I have just been watching and thoroughly enjoying a television programme called Race across the World.  Five couples left London to travel to Singapore using any mode of transport except flying. They were given only the price of two airfares to Singapore in cash and had no access to their credit cards or smart phones and they had to check into five checkpoints along the way.

It was fascinating watching them travel through Europe, all across Asia through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and into China before entering Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia then arriving in Singapore, 50 days after they started. 

Each couple knew each other well and they worked well together. However one couple – a father and his estranged 20 year old – had not been together for a long time. The most amazing part of the story was watching Alex, the 20 year old, change from a immature, self centred lad who easily gave up to a confident, charming and capable young man who had to carry his dad through one of the final parts of the journey when dad had a dreadful tummy bug.

It took two to bring about this transformation. First of all dad had to encourage him to ‘man up’ and stop being so feeble and then he had to let his son start making decisions on the route to take, whether they needed to work to earn more money and then haggling for the cost of the journey. Alex stepped up to the mark, making his dad incredibly proud and transformed his life. He now has the life skills to succeed in any field he chooses.

All this reminded me of the need to help our children and young people grow in life and in the Lord to be all that God has created them to be. It may well mean them having to face circumstances well outside their comfort zone, to deal with difficulties and not prop them up when things are hard.

Previous generations in our Western culture had to face all manner of hardships whether it was poverty, unemployment or war. Young men and women were catapulted from home to the battlefield or had to fight hard to get a job and climb the ladder to succeed. 

It is so important that we do not pamper and over protect our youngsters so they never have to face any challenging circumstances. It is no wonder we have such a highly entitled generation when their every desire is met, often straight away. Learning to wait, to save, to persevere in prayer and reading the Bible, to keep going when you are not the most popular person but you are doing right when everyone else is pleasing themselves are life skills of immense value. It builds character, perseverance and teaches resilience. 

Race across the World put the contestants literally in completely unfamiliar territory and culture. Letting our young people go on mission to unfamiliar countries and letting them pray and raise the necessary money are great faith builders. However there are training grounds much nearer to home; serving well at church or school, helping those less fortunate than ourselves or getting out on the street for evangelism or praying for healing are very challenging but faith building.

Putting faith into action is essential and preferable before young people leave home and face the fresh challenges of university or jobs. Strengthening the younger generation and not protecting them from difficulties and hardship, though keeping them safe is essential.  Our young people will thank us for helping them push their boundaries to fulfil their God given destinies.