A recent trend has emerged where people write about meeting their younger selves for coffee. These reflections explore personal growth, life changes, and the advice they would share with their past selves.
In reality, we won’t be able to turn back the clock and meet our younger selves. I for one, may not even recognise my younger self to begin with! My younger self happens to be half the size I am now!
But I do know that while we can’t have coffee with our younger selves, we can and we should have coffee with a ‘younger self’. What do I mean?
Very often in our journey in life, we come across younger people among our relatives, our colleagues in the office, in our church, or in our circle of friends. And sometimes in the midst of talking with our younger friends, we find ourselves thinking, “Hey! This sounds familiar! I was like that too!” Or “I went through that same thing when I was their age!”
A strange sense of déjà vu comes over us, watching and hearing others navigate the same challenges we faced in our younger days.
I would think these divine appointments are not coincidental but rather divine appointments orchestrated by God. Could this ‘coincidental’ meetings be opportunities to share about our own journey when we were at their age?
What would we say to the younger person? What wisdom, encouragement and God’s timeless truths would we share over that meeting?
One of the things I may tell a younger person would be, “God sees you more clearly than you see yourself.”
And I would share that in my younger days, I was always concerned by how others perceive me. It was when I read Psalm 139:14 that the words reminded me that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
This truth not only applies to me but to the younger person that I speak with. I would remind the person that we are all precious in God’s eyes. This truth transcends time – it was true of me then, it is still true of me now, and it will remain true throughout eternity.
I would also gently share what King Solomon discovered after a lifetime of searching when he said, “Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honour him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
I would illustrate how the things that once felt important in our youth – our academic achievements, careers, success, and wealth – may ultimately fade like the morning mist. Over time, we may realize that these pursuits hold less significance, and what matter most is our relationship with God.
In our younger years, we look forward to the life ahead of us and yet we feel anxious of not knowing what the future holds. I might see the uncertainty in their face – that familiar look of hope and anxiety that characterized my earlier years.
I would share with them the same fears I once faced, emphasizing that life holds unseen storms ahead. I would remind them of the disciples’ experience in Mark 4:35-41, where crashing waves engulfed their boat, and their panicked cries to Jesus, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ reflect our own pleas in the midst of life’s unexpected trials.
But they must take heart! The One who calmed the storm is with us!
I would share my many stories of God’s faithfulness in my life and assure them that the evidence of God’s faithfulness accumulates like treasured photographs over time. With each difficulty navigated, each moment of divine intervention from God, becomes a part of our life story that cannot be taken away. There would come a time where God would use our life stories to encourage another young person.
One important truth I would share would be that nothing is wasted in God’s sovereign ways. The detours, disappointments, and even failures that seem so devastating in the moment are being worked together for good (Romans 8:28). And that He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. (2 Corinthians 1:4)
I would describe how the wilderness seasons that God brings us through are often where God does His deepest work in us. These seasons may include waiting and we need to understand that waiting is not wasted time. The wilderness seasons are not punishments but powerful periods of spiritual formation where God draws us to Himself.
I would encourage the young person to trust God’s leading. His silence doesn’t mean He is absent. Sometimes, He is doing His most profound work when everything seems still.
I think of Joseph’s story, sold into slavery by his own brothers, falsely accused, and imprisoned for years. How pointless those years must have seemed! Yet from his perspective later in life, he could tell those same brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” (Genesis 50:20). Many times, we may only see God’s plans in our pains and disappointments later on in our lives.
I would assure my younger friends and say, “We won’t understand everything and that’s alright. Faith is not about having all the answers but about trusting the One who does.”
As I write this, I’m reminded of the words my Trinity Theological College lecturer shared with me during our class dinner years ago.
As we celebrated our graduation over dinner, we all shared our visions and fears for the future as pastors. While my classmates continued their conversations across the dinner table, my lecturer who was sitting near me, perhaps sensing my fears, looked me in the eye and said in a soft but firm voice, “Stan, you will be ok!”
And I am reminded that our Christian journey is not about achieving perfection but about surrendering to divine grace. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
I would tell the younger person about times in my life when I doubted myself, questioned my worth, and felt crushed by what I perceived as failures. I would assure them that if they ever experience similar feelings, they shouldn’t allow those moments to make them feel unworthy or disqualified.
There’s still so much I could share with my young friends, so many lessons learned, so many moments of grace I’ve witnessed and experienced in my journey. But perhaps, one important thing I would always remind them would be who we are in Christ.
I will whisper to them, “Know that you are much loved by Him! Not because of what you do, but because of who God says you are! You are a child of God! You will be ok!”
While we cannot literally have coffee with our younger self, we can extend this same grace, wisdom and encouragement to others walking paths we have already travelled. Someone in your life – perhaps a young person, or perhaps someone young in faith – needs the comfort and encouragement we now possess.
Who might God be leading us to sit with — over coffee, or perhaps a cold mug of root beer, or a plate of waffles and ice cream — to share the testimony of His faithfulness in our lives? What divine appointment could be waiting in the simple act of offering encouragement?”
May we all become vessels of God’s timeless wisdom, pouring out what we have received into the lives of others. For in this divine exchange, both the giver and receiver are blessed beyond measure!
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
– Hebrews 10:24-25
