Many of my friends have a teen at home. These can be difficult and tumultuous years – for parent and child alike. For the teenager, it’s a season full of emotion, questions and change; but also discovery and growth.
I wonder what Jesus was like as a teenager. Our Bible is completely silent on this time in His life. Jesus came as an infant, which reminds us that He didn’t arrive with all the answers already in place. He learned. He grew. I don’t understand how His fully God yet fully man nature manifested during that time, but I do know He subjected Himself to the all the vulnerabilities of His humanity.
When Jesus says He knows our pain, this is for our teens, too. At that tender in-between age, convinced their struggles are exceptionally unique, our kids can be comforted that God knows how they feel. Not just because He knows us all but because He walked that path too.
Remind your teen that they can talk to God. He knows and understands. Pray that they would be encouraged by His life and transformed by His death and resurrection. May the Spirit give strength to the weary and wisdom to all who ask.
For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16
