@BabyStarCandy 29 April 2022 more from that month

“Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭20:18‬) Have you ever felt like this? I could almost laugh at his use of such a broad term as “entire” until I admit I have felt like this, like nothing I’ve done has produced a lasting result, that my life has had no real value. Why was I ever born? Depression has a way of twisting reality into something that it is not. But I know this. So I will choose depression as a good place to think about what I think. Can I say that I know exactly what God is doing in my life? That would be a pretty bold statement. Paul wrote, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” We may not know his ways, but we know him—God is only good. Therefore whatever he is doing to me, for me, about me, or with me is good. When I face what I consider to be only obstacles, only defeat, only certain failure, I must get on my knees and cry out to the Lord; I must confess my lack of trust, my weakness, because I have believed a lie—for my birth was planned before the beginning of time, and I have a holy purpose! I can do what cannot be stopped, what cannot be controlled by outside influences: I can pray, I can love, I can forgive, I can yield my will to God. If he uses my entire life as a single rung on the ladder that helps someone else reach up to him, I will rejoice with Jesus who had a similarly unlikely end. And I will know that it was a life well-lived.