“I hear you…but what do you do when you come to Jesus, but you still have your problem or addiction?”

All eyes were on the speaker as he was to answer this question, which seemed to intrigue all of the teens (and adults) in attendance.

I sat back feeling proud and thankful for this space where we are able to gather weekly and have these kinds of discussions. At the same time, I felt very connected to M, who had asked this question, as well as the teens and adults in attendance who resonated with this tension.

M is someone that I really admire and is one of our teens who has been very transparent with our 10:12 community about challenges with substance abuse.

As the speaker answered the question with a mixture of Biblically-based wisdom and personal testimony (as this tension was laced into much of the Speaker’s story), I was reminded of the need to have a consistent dialogue about how faith plays out in the messiness of life. As we live in a beautiful City, full of HOPE but also trauma, crime, injustices etc…, we need to be reminded of a God who is present, even in the midst of very visible brokenness.

I’m thankful for the reminder that M so eloquently stated, that like the Apostle Paul, there will be struggles that plague us for various lengths of time…possibly for the rest of our lives. At the same time, I’m thankful for our 10:12 community that continues to reiterate and celebrate the truth that: God has the power to break ANY stronghold/struggle that is before us, AND His grace is sufficient even in our long-term struggles and weaknesses.