Zac Sunderland: Defying Cultural Expectations Meets Solo Circumnavigation

At age 17, the typical American teen wastes away the day playing video games, watching television, and surfing the web. And, without a doubt, this way of living has become perfectly accepted and quite expected from the culture around it. Our culture has even given the word “teenager” the unquestioned negative connotation which assumes that a “teenager” is merely an irresponsible and lazy person who acts like a child and seems to be an adult in appearance alone. The expectations have been already set, and teens everywhere are falling to meet them. Because of the new rise of entertainment and overall consumption, the days when people in their teen years were expected to do great things are long gone. Or, are they? Does God still use teens to do great things for him?

Well, on July 16, one teen took a giant step toward erasing these low expectations of the cultural mindset. It was on that day that Zac Sunderland, a 17-year-old from California, made history, becoming the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe alone. Aboard his boat Intrepid, Zac braved the seas for 13 months, encountering no small measure of difficulties along the way. In the process, Zac also took the opportunity to share his faith. Why did he do it? Upon his historic return, Zac explained his central reason for going on his amazing journey. He said:

“As far as inspiring people, the main thing today would be that society puts younger people, like 15 through 18, in kind of a box, no one’s really expected to do much. They kind of just tend to go to high school and play football and that’s pretty much it. There’s so much more potential that people can do with the right motivation and the right ambition in life. So my thing would just be to get out there and do hard things. Go for it.”

So, back to our original question: Does God still use teens to do great things for Him? Certainly! Indeed, if we choose to follow God’s calling on our lives, there’s no limit to what God might do through us. “For nothing is impossible with God” (Phillipians 4:13). Undoubtedly, it will be hard to shake off the low expectations of our culture, but, if we’re willing to do hard things for God, He will enable us to do so.

Thanks, Zac, for this powerful reminder that God truly does use young people to do great things for Him. And so, as we endeavor to take a stand for life for the glory of God, there’s no limit to what God can do through us! God can truly use us to make a huge difference in our culture, to defy these low expectations, and to take a stand for life. And, as young people, He has called us to do just that.

” Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” ~1 Timothy 4:12

To visit Zac’s website, go to www.sailzac.com