Braddock writes in, Pastor John, in episode number 450, you talked about God's pre-ordination.

In that episode, you also mentioned that in your early 20s, you were almost tormented

by theological questions and difficulties to the extent to where you would lay your head

down on your desk and weep for hours.

What advice would you give to a 23-year-old who is in this exact same position now?

I want to give empathy before I give advice.

I have memories and I'm laughing, but good night, it was hard.

I think the best thing I can do for Braddock, from where I stand, I mean, I don't know what

he's unsure of.

I don't know he's wrestling with, I don't know how central or how marginal, how total

distruggles are, so since I don't know all that, I think the best thing I can do is to

encourage him that the distress of confusion in the mind of God's child will not last.

It is part of a natural process of growth.

This growth from less understanding to more understanding is very incremental and almost

indesernable and other times it is fast and massively disruptive and therefore painful.

I recall when I was 14, this analogy, I grew so fast that my shins hurt.

I grew past my mother, I grew past my father.

He was exciting, he's like growth, you know, he's exciting, growth in your mind is exciting,

growth in your body is exciting and it was painful, there were days, I couldn't walk,

we went to the doctor and he said, just growing pains, just growing pains, I don't like these

growing pains, when will they go away?

That's an analogy or here's another picture, this one I think is more helpful.

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