3 Keys to Helping Teens in Challenging Times

This time of year—with events such as upcoming finals, season playoffs, political tension, holiday expectations, and more—can feel especially anxiety-inducing. Virtually all transitions, even exciting ones, can cause stress.

Most teenagers aren’t particularly good at dealing with stress. Most adults aren’t either, for that matter. We often react to stress with irritability, addictive behaviors, withdrawal, or chocolate.

So how can you help your students not only survive the challenges that come, but actually thrive in the midst of them? Here are three keys to teach your students:

Key #1: Take your challenges to God.

It’s way too easy for us to forget that God is in the business of redeeming difficult times and using the tough stuff in life to further His Kingdom and bring glory to His name. When we don’t understand and can’t see what God’s at work doing, we sometimes turn away from Him in anger or confusion. Why is this happening to me? Why doesn’t God do something about it? Those are the kinds of questions we should take to God and wrestle with Him about.

God uses the anxiety-producing challenges in our lives to draw us closer to Him and to transform us and our world in the process, if we’ll let Him. But it takes deliberate effort to stay close to Him during tough times. Perhaps that’s why Jesus specifically invites the weary and burdened to draw close to Him in Matthew 11:28-29:

‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Confessing our sin, reading God’s Word, and sitting in His presence in prayer can be great sources of strength, comfort, and direction when we’re anxious.

Key #2: Remember God’s promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

When the going gets really tough, it’s essential to remember God’s promise that He will always be with us. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39). We serve a suffering Savior, so we can be assured that He understands challenges and difficult times. God has promised He will never leave us nor forsake us, so no matter how hard things seem, He is there, walking beside us. Paul writes:

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. 1 Corinthians 4:11-13

Difficult circumstances in our lives can be wedges that either push us away from God or closer to Him. And while we may not understand the why behind whatever is happening in our world that’s causing us distress, we can lean on the promise that God will walk with us through it. We can cling to Him no matter what is swirling around us.

Key #3: Look for ways to point others toward Jesus.

God is in the business of redeeming difficult things. And one of the great ways we can join Him in His redemptive work is by pointing others toward Jesus. We can be open and honest with friends about how our personal relationship with Jesus gives us strength when we’re struggling.

Here are a few examples of transitional statements that could shift a conversation from complaining to something far deeper—something with eternal significance. Start by simply, authentically saying something like: “I’ve been feeling stressed about ____________________.” Then follow up with one of the following questions that can open the conversation up and take it deeper.

“How do you react to stress in your life?”

“When you’re stressed, are you more apt to explode or withdraw?”

“Do you believe in God? Is He ever a source of strength for you when you’re feeling anxious?”

“Do you ever pray when you’re stressed or anxious?”

Coach your students to listen before sharing how their relationship with Jesus impacts how they deal with stress and how trusting in Jesus changed their life forever.

Challenging circumstances—whether big or small—loom large in the life of a teenager. So help your students learn to lean on God more fully and coach them on how to advance the Gospel by sharing about His peace and comfort.