The story of Abraham Lincoln amazes me. In the face of many defeats, he had reason to believe there was no way he could succeed in life or be president of the United States. At twenty- two years old, he failed in business. One year later, he ran for the legislature and lost. When he was twenty- four, he experienced a second business failure. At twenty- six, the woman he loved passed away, and he suffered a nervous breakdown the next year. When he was twenty- nine, he lost another political race, and at thirty- four he made an unsuccessful run for Congress. At thirty- seven, he did get elected to Congress, only to be defeated again two years later. At forty- six, he lost his bid for the Senate, and the next year, he failed in his attempt to become vice president. When he was forty- nine, he was defeated for the Senate again. He had four sons, but only one lived to adulthood. But, at fifty- one years of age, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States, and successfully led the country through one of its most difficult periods.

Many people would have said, "No way," but not Lincoln. He never gave up.

Abraham Lincoln tarried in his young years yet didn't reap many rewards until midlife. Even then, he suffered much until his untimely assassination. Lincoln worked and failed and worked some more. I admit; he's better than me, for I'd have likely quit at politics...and love and business, to boot...for good. Oh, thank God Lincoln didn't quit; for who knows if my being literate enough to pen this column-as a Black Hispanic woman-would still be a punishable offense today. Lincoln was a game changer.

His story reminds me of the oft-quoted, uberly-adored Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on eagle's wings. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk without fainting.

That's not all, though. You see, it's never cool to begin a sentence with the conjunction BUT. Understandably, then, we often forget the preceding lines. When read in its entirety, the passage is altogether uplifting, altogether heavenly: Even young people will faint and be weary, and young men will utterly fall. But those [young folks] that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on eagle's wings. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk without fainting. (Isaiah 40:30-31)

Deep down, I believe that the Lord has a tenderness toward young people. Jesus famously said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matt 19:14). Few would question that God chooses as His vehicles for miracles young adults like Gideon, the judge or Ruth, the young, childless widow or Esther, the damsel and future queen or David, the shepherd boy, and even the couple Adam and Eve, who got us off to our start.

Scholars also suggest that the disciples were in their early 30s, like Christ, or their late 20s. This "guestimation" comes primarily from the accounts of paid taxes, since-like today-Roman tax calculations depended on factors such as age, family size, marital status and the like. No one knows for sure the disciples' age but we DO know that Jesus' posse was energetic, sometimes rash, often inexperienced. Sounds to me as though they were young, indeed.

Our congregation has embarked on a 21-day time of consecration where we will all individually and collectively fast, pray, sacrifice, worship and give ourselves away like never before. Our church is asking God for a breakthrough. So much of this time is about earnestly restoring our first love. I heard a family friend put it this way recently, "Do you remember when you first fell in love and you didn't want to hang up the phone so you would both fall asleep with the receiver in hand? Or, when you would walk your baby home and then they'd turn around and walk you half way back to your destination because the pair of you couldn't part? When you declared your love and they'd quickly 'outlove' you by saying, 'No, I love you more'?? Well, God is seeking THAT type of vulnerability."

In Miami, we're going hungry this March so that we can be filled with the Bread of Heaven. We ignore our appetites, emptying ourselves so that our souls' cups can be filled to overflowing. Here's the thing, though: we can NOT give ourselves makeovers. This isn't a STYLE network sort of thing. It's not up to us. As we clasp hands with God, though, He gives us the authority to make ax heads float. He'll give us back our power and edge. We serve a God who allows us to speak to dry bones. We can tell stale or lifeless spiritual walks to live. We put our faith in a Father who can cure blindness with mud. He'll give us back our vision even in the midst of thick, dirty things.

There's a movement brewing and it's not just in my local church. Young adults-who have famously exited the body of Christ in the last 15 years-are going to be God's frontline people. During this time, when the central part of America is hurting and bleeding on account of monstrous tornadoes; throughout this era where entertainment becomes increasingly bilious and downright demonic; and in this world where rapes and sexual assaults are as common as colds in places like the Congo, God seeks to use energetic, sometimes rash and totally inexperienced young adults to show Himself mighty on earth....to redeem our truth-hating societies.

Young adults will be counter-cultural. They will be Jesus in blue jeans.

Young adults will be the iPods to those who need to hear the Good News.

Young adults will be the Skype that shows what right living looks like.

How about we become risk-takers, just like the young Abraham Lincoln, and the renegade-like but God-chasing young folks of the Bible? "Give me the love that leads the way," Amy Carmichael so beautifully stated it, "The faith that nothing can dismay, the hope no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire. Let me not sink to be a clod. Make me your fuel, Flame of God."

Oh, but I reckon that the Word puts it best of all in 1 Timothy where it says, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Ana Valeska is a not-so-naughty librarian, college instructor, book editor and--yeah,baby--NEWD columnist. Her forthcoming work, Tu Eres (You Are), is a devotional based on modern-day worship psalms. Ana Valeska longs to help redeem urban, young adult culture for the Lord Jesus. Her daughter, Selena, and cat, Puffles, have her wrapped around their little fingers.