Have you heard of the Rebelution? Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t. Let me tell you about it for a minute. 😉 The Rebelution was started by the brothers Alex and Brett Harris. The word ‘Rebelution’ is a combination of the words, ‘Rebel’, and ‘Revolution’. It is by definition a teenage rebellion against low expectations. It’s about rebelling against the low standards and expectations that we young people, and society around us, puts on us. It’s about being strong for the Lord in our youth. It’s about not being afraid to get outside our comfort zones and do hard things. The teenage years are so precious, filled with so much potential, and yet, sadly, so many of those in their teenage years waste them with ‘fun’, and miss out on what they could really be. That is what the Rebelution is.

I first discovered the Rebelution last summer when I decided to finally follow the many recommendations I had gotten from people around me, and read the book by Alex and Brett Harris, called Do Hard Things. At the time when I read it, I read it while I was so sick, spending several weeks in bed. However, I really enjoyed the book. I signed up for the email list on the Rebelution website. A month or two later, I received one of those emails, and this one was announcing a new online ‘class’ that they were offering for the first time, taught by Brett Harris. It was called Do Hard Things University. …I could go on and on about it (I’m pretty sure that most of my friends are tired of my talking about it by now), but it was really good! 😉

The reason I am telling you all this (besides recommending something awesome!) is to draw your attention to something I noticed, while taking the class. One of the best parts of it, was being able to see that I wasn’t alone in wanting to be strong for God in my youth, and it was just so amazing to see all these other people around me wanting to do (and already doing) all these amazing hard things. It was truly like iron sharpening iron. However, I noticed a specific question that a few students were asking:

“Can sickness be my hard thing?”

The answer was, “Yes!”, but I totally understood where the other students were coming from. We wanted to be strong for God in our youth, too, but we weren’t able to since we were so sick. Was that okay? Were we not actual ‘Rebelutionaries’, since we couldn’t actually rise above any expectations? Since it was such a hard-fought battle just to reach them,-even just barely?

A few weeks ago, this question was bouncing around in my mind again, and I was discussing it with my mom. The next day, an email popped up from a friend who also has a lot of physical issues of her own she is battling. She had said that she had written an article with that very topic (I hadn’t said anything to her about my questions or ideas!).

Well, a few days ago, it was published on the Rebelution website! Therefore, without further ado, click here, and go read it!

…Also, I would highly recommend the personal blog of the author of that article as well, which you will find here, as well as another great post on the Rebelution about suffering, here.