Like many youth workers, I am prone to let the size of the crowd or the posture of our students decide what my emotional state will be the rest f the evening. Last night I saw a kid with his hat over his eyes during worship. “Great’ I thought. Then I caught myself and said, “it will be o.k.” I had a strange burst of confidence come over me. I preached with my normal exuberance, saw a few come to the altar, and then prayed. Then came the reason I should not trust my eyes.
I was outside during our youth’s choir practice and who comes looking for me? Yep, kid with the hat over his eyes. He wanted to talk with me. This was only his second time at our church. We had a great talk about where he is in life and he shared his heart. He wanted to get his life on track. We prayed and he decided to follow Jesus.
It’s easy to walk into your youth room and see it half empty and say “where is everybody?” But don’t let your eyes fool you. The kids that are there want to be there. They drove themselves. The begged their moms to come. Some of your kids invited a friend. They slouch, talk, and text during worship. It’s not working is it? They aren’t getting it are they? Don’t go by what you see. God is there. Working. Beyond our eyes.
Do you get discouraged by what you see? How do you overcome the meeting blahs of low numbers or disinterested looks?