"But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine."
-Isaiah 43:1
We all get into those doubting and melancholy moods from time to time.
Where we wonder...and torture ourselves, with questions such as:
Do I really matter?
Am I really loved by anyone?
If people knew how messed up I am inside sometimes, they'd drop me...wouldn't they?
Do I have a purpose?
Such thoughts can weave themselves insidiously into our heart and soul...we begin to doubt our value, we begin to question the motives and affections of the people in our lives and everything seems to slowly get darker, heavier. Life starts to lose its luster and each day feels like you are mentally trudging through sludge just to get by.
And such thoughts are not from God, but from the one who would see you live in misery and defeat. That old adversary, who loves nothing more than to whisper in your ear how un-needed and unloved you are.
For God tells you a very different message, one of profound love, hope and joy.
That you, made in His image and known to Him before He founded the world, were made with a purpose.
That you, both on your good days and bad, are precious beyond measure to the Lord who created you in love. And nothing can separate you from that love. Nothing.
That you who were trapped by sin have been ransomed at a great price, a price beyond all comprehension, and now are claimed by God who is possessive in His love for you.
That you, who may be estranged from family or friends, have a Lord who has made you His child....how loved must you be to be called a child of God! You have a Father who will never forsake you, you are never without family.
Find your worth in the fact that you are beloved by God, known to Him before He set the foundations of the world, for the purpose of being saved through Christ so that you might love and be loved by God for eternity. Holy Scriptures tell us again of the depth of God's love, how steadfast it is and how rich in mercy.
Christ calls to you, "Abide in my love," (John 15:9b).
You are loved, cherished and important in the eyes of our Creator.
He made you in love. Called you in love. Redeemed you in love. Sanctifies you in love.
You have not been unloved one day of your life. You have not been unwanted....ever.
So friend, when those dark thoughts come, don't give into them. I know it can be hard, I am myself of a nature prone to melancholy. But when these thoughts come, telling you that you're unloved, unwanted and undeserving....turn to God's word and to prayer. Read some of the verses below or the hundreds more found within Scripture that tell you just how beloved you are to our God.
And remember this..... God proved to you that you are so greatly loved by He sending His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, very God of very God, part of the Triune godhead, to die upon a Cross, be buried and resurrected again so that you might have eternal life, if you will but believe and trust in Him.
You are so important in God's eyes that you were worth dying for. Worth the torture, the mocking, the nails driven in and the horror and weight of sin, the agony of the cross lifted up and the gasping breaths. The shattering pain, the darkness of death. All of it. In God's eyes, you are worth it.
Has anyone ever been more loved?
--Beth Haynes Butler
"According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" Ephesians 1:4
"Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of my hands;" Isaiah 49:16
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39
"The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." Zephaniah 3:17
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 1 John 3:1
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
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