Dedicating the Flower of Your Youth

By Elizabeth Botkin

Elizabeth Botkin

In Jeremiah chapter 1, the Lord told young Jeremiah that He had called him to be a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah’s response, in verse 6, was, “‘Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,’ declares the Lord.”

Historians believe that Jeremiah, when God appointed him a prophet to the nations, and basically told him, “Don’t use the fact that you’re a youth as an excuse not to serve me like a man,” was thirteen years old.

1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” I believe we shouldn’t look down on our own youthfulness by thinking that at age thirteen, we aren’t old enough to dedicate every day fully to God’s service. I believe what Jeremiah did was looking down on his youthfulness, and God’s response to him should sober every thirteen-year-old.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was fourteen or fifteen that the story of Jeremiah jumped out at me. That was when I first began to realize that the Dominion Mandate and Great Commission were my duties as much as anyone else’s, my comparative youth notwithstanding; I was supposed to help my family take dominion, and make disciples of all the nations. Right then. That year. That day.

At that point in my life, I was paralyzed by shyness and nervousness and was terrified at the thought of what making disciples would involve — teaching people to observe all that God had commanded. And as I had a very small grasp of what God’s commands even were, I realized that that was the time to start studying God’s Word like I never had before. I was so sorry for the years I had wasted, not working on overcoming my weaknesses or equipping myself for service.

Our youth is one of the most precious gifts that we can offer to God. We have so much to give the Lord at this time of our lives. Right now, our minds are quick and energetic. Our bodies are strong and lively. We won’t be quite like this when we’re sixty! We need to give the Lord the best of our youth, our vigor, and our mental energy; the firstfruits of our lives. Jonathan Edwards said, devoting these very young, tender years to the Lord’s service is “a peculiar honor to God.” He said, “Boys who are pious early dedicate the flower of their lives to God.”

God wants these years of our youth, and so does Satan. Satan targets those with sprightly minds and bodies. They’re vulnerable, they’re often foolish, and they have a lot of energy to give him. These are the years when the devil sends some of his fieriest darts. Satan sends a whole host of new temptations to people entering their teens, and the mistakes and sinful habits of our youth are often the hardest to recover from.

Those who seek Christ early entreat more blessings from God on their lives. By starting young, think of how much more ground we can gain in holiness in our lifetimes, with God’s help! If we can conquer our besetting sins by age thirteen, we can achieve untold levels of productivity with the rest of our lives.

I wish I had understood, at age thirteen, how productive I could have been that year. For some reason, I thought that year was less important than the years would be after I was married, so I felt as though I should just wait around for something to happen in the meantime. I should have, instead, started looking around to see the needs of the church, and the needs of my family, trying to make things happen.

Thirteen is not too young to start being a woman of ministry. It’s not too young to start thinking like shepherds and thinking like servants — to be like the benevolent women of the Bible who stretched out their hands to the poor and needy; who taught the younger women; who served the body of Christ; and who helped their families in the work of dominion and discipleship.

If I had understood that when I was thirteen, I wouldn’t have felt somewhat aimless, as though my life hadn’t started yet. But I had swallowed the notion that “doing God’s work” had to take place through organizations and “official” ministries, usually overseas. If formal institutions have the monopoly on Christian service, then all a girl can do at home is just do her school and then have her “free time.” And as my teen years began to creep up on me, I began to see the purposelessness of that, and I felt I was drifting.

I don’t know exactly how my father could tell what was going on inside of me, because I kept up a cheerful and industrious front. I was studying more than ever, and discovering scores of new interests; I had started harp lessons and was loving it; we had just moved out to a farm in the country which gave me a lot to do; Anna and I had started studying scriptwriting and wanted to make movies; and, of course, I had no end of “hobbies.” We had never filled our time so well. But somehow Dad could see something that other people couldn’t, and at that point he started coming to me and saying, “Sweetie, you need to stop spinning your wheels. Eliza, you need to start redeeming the time.” Somehow he had seen right inside my empty little soul, to the fact that I had no vision and felt like I had no purpose. It was as though we were trying to keep our minds busy to distract us from the fact that our souls were bored.

And exactly the way a father is supposed to guide and direct his daughter’s heart, Dad directed me to my purpose and my mission-field. He showed me the sheep I was supposed to shepherd. Partly he did this by example, discipling Christian leaders in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. And I began to understand that filling the time is not the same as redeeming the time.

Neither Anna nor I remember exactly how everything fell together after that, but very suddenly, we had a desire to understand our role in dominion warfare and disciple-making. Before that, we didn’t really understand what daughters were for ... besides doing our school, helping with dinner, and being nice to our little brothers.

Like good home-schooled girls, we grew up knowing that we were supposed to be different from the world. But we didn’t know we were supposed to engage the world, and change the world, and teach the world to do all things the Lord commanded.

Then Dad taught us to look for the needs of the girls of our generation. One of the first needs we noticed was that every girl we knew was struggling with a similar aimlessness, and we could find little to no teaching on visionary daughterhood. So we decided to write the book that we wanted to read. That was the impetus behind So Much More.

One of the most important discoveries we made on our journey of understanding was that our home was our missions field. Our ministry opportunities weren’t in any way limited by our living at home.

One of the things that had confused us, and a lot of our friends, was thinking that missionaries are people who are supernaturally called to leave their families and go to foreign, third-world countries and work with missions organizations there. And we didn’t think any Christian work was as noble as “missionary” work, so staying at home somehow seemed less worthy and important. But if the word “missionary” means a Christian with a cause, and a purpose, and a mission from God, then every Christian is called to be a missionary. Because God has given a call to all of us: The Dominion Mandate and the Great Commission.

When Anna and I realized that, suddenly the way we looked at our home changed. The way we lived in our home changed. It stopped being a place where we just put up with our siblings, did our chores, and waited for something to happen (preferably marriage). It became a place where we could better evangelize and disciple the world. It became a place where we could really invest in our relationships with our brothers, and help them become mighty men. It became a place where we could work with our family on projects that really mattered for the Kingdom. It became a place that we could turn into a haven of beauty and warmth; a center of art and civilization; a bastion of Christian culture and godly aesthetics.

It’s a mistake to think that the only worthy mission fields are third-world countries. The entire earth is our mission field, and every place in it is needy. Christians need to serve wherever they are, with the same sacrifice, resolve, selflessness, and commitment as the most dedicated missionary in darkest Africa. We need to be missionaries wherever we are, all the time.

Young women need to look around and see the mission field that God has placed them in. Are you in a church? Churches are a needy missions field. Single young women should serve as the “secret weapon” of the local church by using these less-busy years to come alongside busy young mothers, the sick, widows, and, of course, those “younger women.”

Are you living in a family? Families are needy. One faithful daughter, by discipling her sisters, encouraging her brothers, assisting her mother, and helping her father, can help illuminate that beacon for the gospel that is the Christian home.

And should her family not be Christian, but tolerate her Christian influence — their need for her is all the greater.

Is your family living in the United States? Now, there’s a pagan country in need of the true gospel. There is so much to be done here. Is your family living in a foreign country? One of the things we have in common, Sarah, is that we’ve both lived overseas, in very needy places, and you’re on the eve of an important trip to an extremely needy country. One thing I’ve learned is, if we’re not thinking like missionaries and shepherds, even in the most deprived countries, we won’t even see the most important needs.

I’m sure right now it looks to you like this year’s going to bring many heavy burdens. Growing up does bring new burdens, but there is one thing that will make the difference between success and failure in shouldering those responsibilities gracefully. Everything we have shared with you this evening may sound like a lot to remember, but it all boils down to one thing. All wisdom and vision and purpose and glorious ministry opportunities begin with a willing heart. A seeking heart. “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.” God won’t ask us to do anything that’s too difficult for us, for we can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Psalm 91:14-16 says, “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him, and let him behold My salvation.”

May the Lord help us all this year to be greater blessings to our families, more effective arrows in the hands of our fathers, and better ambassadors for Christ. And may we all strive to be like Mary, who historians reckon was a very young woman when she told the Angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38).

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