"I'm almost a teenager so I'm too old to be innocent and too young to be taken seriously."
How it sounds in your head: You're losing that kid innocence but nobody treats you like you're mature. You're expected to act older but still treated like a child. You're too aware to be naive and too young to be respected. Stuck in the worst spot.
"For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth."
-- Psalm 71:5World - creating impossible standards at every age. Enemy trying to rob you of childhood AND adulthood simultaneously so you feel like neither counts.
You're noticing things about the world that you didn't see as a little kid. You can't go back to being naive. But when you try to talk about real things, adults pat your head and dismiss you. You're losing innocence without gaining respect.
Taken as a young teenager to Babylon. Given wisdom and understanding in literature and learning by God IMMEDIATELY. Interpreted dreams for the king as a youth while educated adults failed.
I REFUSE the lie that I'm trapped between childhood and adulthood with the value of neither. IT IS WRITTEN that God has been my hope and trust FROM MY YOUTH, meaning this stage is sacred, not stuck. I am not losing innocence without gaining respect - I am GROWING in wisdom while KEEPING childlike faith. IT IS WRITTEN that I must become like a child to enter the kingdom, so my youth is my ADVANTAGE, not my liability. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus RIGHT NOW, not in high school, not in college, NOW. I am a branch bearing fruit in THIS season because the Vine produces fruit on branches of every age. The BARAK blessing makes me the head and not the tail at twelve years old. I am not too anything - I am EXACTLY who God designed for this moment.
The Father doesn't see you as stuck. He sees you as perfectly positioned. He's not waiting for you to grow out of this stage. He's celebrating THIS stage, running toward you with everything you need for RIGHT NOW, not for someday.