I don't believe we always realize the moment when we become an adult.

This realization of new maturity seems to creep up and surprise us. At least for me, it's seemed too. I can look back on this past season of life and see each step of growth into deeper maturity. But I didn't necessarily always think of myself as an "adult" during that process. I more so felt like a struggling 23 year old just trying to figure out the new complications life brings as you move forward.

It wasn't until this past weekend that I actually realized how much of an adult I really am. And the realization didn't come from paying bills or going to bed at 9pm. It simply came from a couple people, over the course of a couple days, telling me how they didn't recognize me right away because they thought I looked older and more mature.

This was a bit shocking to hear.

Don't get me wrong, I do not view myself as an immature wreck. I do think of myself as an adult. But if I'm honest, I feel like someone struggling with the lessons of adulthood more than I feel like a perfectly, mature adult who has it all together.

Unfortunately, this struggle can block our minds from seeing an important truth. That's why it felt a bit weird to have those people tell me I looked older. I knew they didn't mean that I had more wrinkles under my eyes. They meant it in the positive way of looking more distinguished and mature. That I looked better because of this new adulthood. The struggle of growing up just doesn't always allow me to see myself that way.

God doesn't want the struggle of growing up to deter us from seeing the distinguished, mature adult that we are.

It can be sad to move away from seasons of being younger. During those times in our lives, things seem easier. Responsibilities seem lesser. But those seasons are only meant to be temporary. As we grow into adulthood, the waves of new responsibility and complications can scare us. It can make us feel like being an adult sucks. We start to wish we could be a kid again. And this thought process can start to make us view ourselves as more immature than mature.

But God has unique gifts and joys that we can only experience when we become adults.

These gifts and joys are more than just circumstantial milestones. They are more in heart and Spirit than anything. It involves deeper intimacy with God. Things that we can't necessarily experience or understand as children. I certainly do not know or understand every joy of being an adult. I am growing and understanding more of them every day.

Maybe that's why the realization of adulthood creeps up on us. Because we get swept up and consumed into the storm of new responsibility and growth, which can lead us to romanticizing immaturity. This can create a feeling of struggle. And this struggle can keep us from experiencing the joy of realizing that we are now a mature, distinguished adult.

The truth is that we do not all of a sudden become an adult one day. That new maturity is created and present when we come into that season of new responsibilities and growth. We just allow the struggles in that season to make us feel more immature than we actually are.

Yes we are always learning and yes we are always growing and becoming better adults. But do not let the struggles of maturity make you think that you're not an adult. God wants you to know that you are an adult. He wants you to know that you are much more mature and distinguished then you think you are.

God didn't create adulthood for the purpose of having your life perfectly together. Adulthood, in His eyes, means opening up your arms to the obstacles of life and embracing new responsibility with His selflessness and humility.

It's not up to you to have it all together. The puzzle isn't for us to put together. Pick up the responsibilities and challenges you have and give them to God. He'll put the pieces together in a way infinitely more beautiful than anything you could imagine.