Sweet Seventeen

“Joseph, being seventeen years old." - Gen. 37:2b

Oh, to be seventeen again. A beating package of emotions tightly wound around an ever inquisitive mind. This time of exploration and testing of all known boundaries for many American youth is also a time of severe upheaval.
We live in a land which glorifies youth. Every commercial, every model, all the prizes and temptations of our culture are fixated on the energy and often reckless desires of youth. As the fountain of youth was the quest for early American explorers, our culture still searches for creams, balms, cures and cars which capture the essence of youth.
I remember getting the keys to my first car. Being put behind the wheel of a half-ton V-8 Pontiac was like throwing fire into the simmering cauldron of teenage emotions. The power of being behind the wheel, the freedom to chart my own destiny, the command of speed and agility of control all feed deeply into the emerging soul of youth. But with this new freedom, comes a tremendous amount of responsibility that few teenagers can handle.
Car insurance speaks this truth. To insure the passions of a young man turning 17 requires a significant premium—based purely on the driving statistics. When you put power, force, and direction into hands unprepared to handle them responsibly, accidents are bound to happen. Joseph's dream was like a revving engine in the hands of a wound up teenager.
Young men yearn for speed and long for living on the edge. Adrenaline, testosterone, and endorphins are running through their blood, and with this release of passion comes a need for power, conquest, and challenge. Our society rarely offers this outlet. The young soul of a man entering adulthood is longing to know he has the power to make a dent on the world. Impurely directed, this quest for impact takes dangerous turns into drugs, vandalism, womanizing, or crimes.
But this desire comes from God, and something of this passion must be harnessed and caressed in early youth so that these youth have the initial fuel to carry their deepest dreams through. When Joseph was seventeen, God began to speak to him about the destiny he was to carry. God is reaching out to many at this turbulent and impulsive age to saddle them with a vision of the conquest for their own generation.
As we harness the energy of this emerging generation, temper it with character and patience, God will fulfill his prophetic promise of turning the hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children. This merging of the generations is destined to bring a blessing on the earth.

Those who wait on the Lord will renew their youth,
They will mount up with wings as eagles.