Erlo Stegen emphasizes the necessity of humility before God's mighty hand, illustrating that true exaltation comes only after genuine humility. He shares personal experiences of loss, underscoring God's sovereign will and the importance of trusting Him in difficult times. Stegen encourages the youth to submit to authority and to cast their cares upon God, who genuinely cares for them. He warns against the devil's schemes, reminding believers of their victory through Christ. Ultimately, he calls for a complete commitment to God's calling, assuring that He will perfect and establish those who remain faithful.

1Pet 5:5-10 1) Humble yourself under the Mighty Hand of God We cannot begin to describe how powerful God's Hand is, because we can describe it only in human terms. But we are not speaking about the power of man but God's Omnipotent power. God does exactly as He wishes and no one can change His will. We pray for many terminally ill patients at the mission and many are healed. But when my wife was terminally ill, I prayed for her healing but she still died. So too when my father was ill I prayed for his healing but he died too. I had to bow under God's mighty hand. God works sovereignly. You didn't choose to be male or female, and to live in this particular era of the world's history and in this specific country. Neither could you choose which nationality you would belong to. All was God's Sovereign ordaining and His Mighty Hand at work. It is utter foolishness to refuse to bow under God's Mighty Hand. If you don't bend and bow under His Hand you will be broken. God addresses the younger people especially to be humble and be subject to those over them. 2) Then He will exalt you in due time (i.e. in His own appointed time). There has never been a man of God which God had lifted up who wasn't first humbled to the lowest depths. If you are humbled and remain faithful, God doesn't lift you up when you think it is time, but He does it in His own appointed time. We see this clearly in the life of Joseph. After he interpreted the dreams of Pharoah's servants and asked the butler to remember him before Pharoah, the butler forgot about him until it was God's time. Young person, that is what you need to do - humble yourself - otherwise you will never be lifted up by God. Jesus promised in Matth 19:29, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life." 3) Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you. If you could only see and feel how much God cares for you it would revolutionize your life! It's a disgrace for you as a child of God to walk around with a troubled face when God the Father is in Heaven caring for you. Just the daily running costs of the mission is enormous but we bring it to God on a continual basis and He has not failed us once these many years. May God grant you this revelation of how much He cares for you. 4) "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith" Remember that the devil is your enemy and not your friend. His earnest desire is to destroy you in any way possible, whether it be through direct assault or by coming an an "angel of light". But note that he is not a lion, but only roars like a lion. Jesus is the true Lion (Rev 5:5). Therefore you need not fear the devil. He is a defeated foe. 5) "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." God wants to perfect you in the faith. He doesn't want half of you. He wants you wholly to be His. He has called us to His eternal glory, so that His will be done in our lives. You cannot fear failure when He has called you. Young person, grab hold of His calling for your life. He has promised to bring it to pass. But if you reject His calling when He calls you, your life will be without meaning and you will go through life from the one sin to the next. Eternal judgment will then await you. May the Holy Spirit enlighten you so that you might see what life is about.