From the Inside Out

As I was vacuuming the last of our four YFC vans in preparation to go to YFC Camp, I thought about the many times I have vacuumed a YFC van over the years, sweeping up the messes before we leave for YFC Camp. (Too many to count!) Completing this mundane task, I realized the inside of the van went along with the theme of our summer YFC camps: “God Sees Your Mess.”

Our goal at YFC Camp is for teens to have fun, but also to be challenged to look at their lives and learn how to grow in a personal relationship with Jesus.  Because of sin in our lives we are messy in many ways.

As the day to leave approached, I looked over the list of teens coming to camp. On that list, I saw Brian’s name. I know Brian fairly well from weekly meetings,
and looked forward to him being at YFC Camp. From outward appearances, it seemed that he had his life pretty well put together and was a follower of Jesus. I looked forward to being with the other teens who were coming as well.

Now, let me tell you about Brian and our small group time we had each evening at camp. This special time allows teens to open up about what they heard in our large group time, share about their lives, and apply the camp theme – how God
sees their mess. Almost all the teens were opening up about how God was seeing the messes in their lives, and Brian surprised me as he began to share
the mess in his life in this safe small group.

I can’t share all the details, but I can say that what I learned was that what I saw on the outside was not showing the mess on the inside that he is dealing with. It was like the vans I had cleaned, most looked clean on the outside but when you opened the doors the mess inside was revealed.

Life is messy. During small group time, some teens expressed how they want to live in a manner that is pleasing and to grow as a disciple. We all learned that regardless of how messy our life becomes, God sees our mess and sent Jesus and His Holy Spirit to help us to conform to His image.

Romans 12:2 – The Message