The Spiritual Storm of Adolescence

Parents and youth workers should certainly tell the truth and point kids to the truth. But we must also take courage, realizing that when teens question the Christian faith while investigating other faith systems, they may in fact be taking steps towards a real and vital personal Christian faith. The thing you think might indicate a weakening or disappearing faith in God, just might be the very thing God uses to reinforce, cement, and strengthen their faith as it passes through the refiner’s fire of speculation, examination, doubt, and questioning. The questioning attitude of a teenage child who has been raised and instructed in the faith can be the most challenging and disheartening aspect of parenting for Christian parents. I know several parents who have weathered this storm to watch their children grow up with a faith that has become their own. In fact, many parents have embraced the storm knowing that in the long run, their child will be better for having gone through the difficulty.