What is strong enough to carry you through the worst storm imaginable—even the death of your child? R13 speaker Levi Lusko shares what he wishes he had known about life, critics, hope, and more.

What I wish I’d known about life

I wish I’d known that when the Bible says life is a vapor (James 4:14), that is exactly what it means. You and everyone you know and love are just one heartbeat away from eternity. I always thought of my death and knew it was going to happen, but I never, ever entertained the thought of one of my children beating me to heaven. There are no guarantees in life—except that it will end (Heb. 9:27).

What I wish I’d known about critics

Critics don’t count, and they don’t account for the majority of those in your audience. It is easy to get so irritated by Sanballat and Geshem (Neh. 2–6) and all their harassment that you forget the vast majority of those you are addressing desperately want to help you build the wall.

You and everyone you know and love are just one heartbeat away from eternity. Tweet

When you let the critic’s voice get to you, it only lowers your platform and lessons your influence. While you are focused on answering a fool according to his folly (Prov. 26:4), the majority, who want direction, vision and equipping, aren’t getting what they came for.

The worst part is that if you mistakenly turn your pulpit or blog into a machine gun to fire back at critics, they probably won’t even listen. The critics don’t count—and they don’t really care what you have to say either.

What I wish I’d known about children

Children are your most important ministry. Your kids’ love means more than the likes on anything you post on Instagram—even if it’s a clever “father of the year” picture about them. Listening to your kids’ stories and hearing about their day is a thousand times more meaningful than seeing how many people retweeted your latest tweet.

Critics don’t count—and they don’t really care what you have to say either. Tweet

Look into your kids’ eyes. Laugh with them. Hug them so close that you smell their hair. Every once in a while, drop what you are doing, no matter how important it is, and take them to get ice cream.

Tell them about Jesus, show them who he is, and get them ready for heaven. There is absolutely nothing that matters more than this.

What I wish I’d known about suffering

For every major season of growth and amazing move of God I have ever been a part of, I have a scar. Even as it cost Adam a rib to get a wife (Gen. 2:20–22), it will cost you to be used by God.

Your kids’ love means more than the likes on anything you post on Instagram. Tweet

It’s easy to envy those leading at a level or on a scale you’d like to get to. But now I look at those ahead of me differently, because I know they have had to suffer greatly to be used so powerfully. Valuable things have to be ground up to make perfume, and as God diffuses the fragrance of Christ in our lives, we are crushed in the process. Fortunately, God never wastes a trial. He puts to use what he puts us through.

What I wish I’d known about hope

A living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) can carry you through the worst storms imaginable. Unfortunately, there is no way this can be tested and proven without going through the fire yourself. You can’t know the limits of hope’s strength until you test it with all your weight when you are in a complete and total free fall.

I wish I could have known what I know now about the power of the hope Jesus has given us without living through our worst nightmare. Having been upheld through fire and flood, I marvel at the power of the hope that is in us.

What I wish I’d known about student ministry

I wish I’d known that the best thing we would ever do for the youth of our church would be to kill our youth group. When we first started our church, we started a youth group because that’s what you do. It was a small version of the main church. In time, we came to realize that for us it was Saul’s armor—and we were meant to fight with a slingshot (1 Sam. 17).

Having been upheld through fire and flood, I marvel at the power of the hope that is in us. Tweet

Now we are no longer a church with a youth group. We are a youth-led movement. The students are not the church of tomorrow—they are the church of right now. We want them leading the charge, serving, in community just like everyone in the church. I believe we are ministering to students more effectively than ever, all because we killed our student ministry.

Levi Lusko is the exclusive live speaker for the Resurgence Conference broadcast location in Albuquerque, NM. Buy your tickets for R13 in Reno for only $99, or see the main event live in downtown Seattle with Mark Driscoll, Rick Warren, Matt Chandler, and more.