Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for opening your heart so honestly about feeling confused, sad and without direction after the trauma and bullying you have endured. Losing your spark after being hurt so deeply is understandable, and God sees both the pain you have carried and the sincere desire you have to hear from Him and find your way.
Scripture teaches that the deepest purpose for your life is not found in achievements, possessions, pleasures or even in trying to repair yourself on your own. Searching for meaning only on that level, under the sun as one writer in Ecclesiastes describes it, always ends in emptiness and frustration. Real life, the kind that brings lasting meaning, is found in the Son. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life. That life is not just length of days, but a quality of life marked by righteousness, peace and joy in fellowship with God.
You were created for fellowship with God, and only when you are living in that fellowship does life begin to make sense. When sin separates us from Him, life feels empty no matter how hard we try to fill it. When we are reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ, He begins a new work. His great purpose in your life is to conform you to the image of Jesus, so that His love, His grace and His kindness can be revealed through you to the world. That is why you are set apart. To be sanctified means to be set apart for His exclusive use. Your life and even your body belong to Him for His purposes, and that calling lifts you to a higher standard than simply asking what is allowed. Like Daniel who purposed in his heart not to defile himself, and like Paul who said whether by life or by death he wanted Christ to be glorified in his body, you can purpose in your heart to live for what pleases God.
God is not working in your life in a random or careless way. He has a plan and a purpose for you, as He did for Esther when she was placed where she was for a reason she could not see at first. The hard places you have been through are not without meaning. God uses seasons and times for every purpose under heaven, and He can use even trials to develop character and to make things beautiful in His time. Knowing this helps you to yield to Him rather than fight Him. Fighting what He allows can make a heart bitter, but trusting Him and saying Lord, my life is Yours, opens the way for Him to work out His good plan as you surrender to Him.
That surrender involves a choice about what will be at the center of your life. Every life revolves around some center. For many it is self, and a self centered life eventually feels like a mistake with no reason for being. God invites you to put Him at the center, to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to live a God centered life in fellowship with Him. The old life lived for self and governed by sin can be buried with Christ, and a new life governed by the Spirit can begin. You are not bound to remain what trauma made you feel you are. In Christ you can pass from death to life, and by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead you can have strength to live each day.
Living to please God is the bottom line of your existence, and it is also where rich fulfillment is found. Those who live only to please themselves cannot please God, but those who live by the Spirit find peace and joy. This means sowing to the Spirit rather than to the flesh. Jesus said His words are spirit and they are life, so to sow to the Spirit is to give yourself to His Word, to prayer, to honest fellowship with Him, and to daily choosing the Spirit over the old patterns.
If you are asking what you can do now to find your way, consider these simple steps before the Lord. Come to Jesus Christ alone for salvation and new life, confessing your need and trusting Him. Tell Him you want to be set apart for Him and to live to please Him. Spend time regularly in the Bible, not just to find an answer to one question but to know Him and to let His Spirit speak. Pray honestly about your confusion and pain, and also listen. Purpose in your heart to walk in moral purity and in the way that honors Him. Trust His timing. There are seasons for every purpose, and He is faithful to answer the heart that seeks Him with joy. As you walk with Him, He will shape you more like Jesus and show you how He wants to use your life, even your wounds, to show His grace to others.
I am praying for you that God will bring healing to the places where you were wounded, lift the heaviness of sadness and confusion, and give you a clear sense of His presence and His purpose. May He assure you that you have life in His Son, teach you to rest in His love, and guide you step by step into the life that brings Him pleasure and brings you true fullness.
Scripture teaches that the deepest purpose for your life is not found in achievements, possessions, pleasures or even in trying to repair yourself on your own. Searching for meaning only on that level, under the sun as one writer in Ecclesiastes describes it, always ends in emptiness and frustration. Real life, the kind that brings lasting meaning, is found in the Son. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life. That life is not just length of days, but a quality of life marked by righteousness, peace and joy in fellowship with God.
You were created for fellowship with God, and only when you are living in that fellowship does life begin to make sense. When sin separates us from Him, life feels empty no matter how hard we try to fill it. When we are reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ, He begins a new work. His great purpose in your life is to conform you to the image of Jesus, so that His love, His grace and His kindness can be revealed through you to the world. That is why you are set apart. To be sanctified means to be set apart for His exclusive use. Your life and even your body belong to Him for His purposes, and that calling lifts you to a higher standard than simply asking what is allowed. Like Daniel who purposed in his heart not to defile himself, and like Paul who said whether by life or by death he wanted Christ to be glorified in his body, you can purpose in your heart to live for what pleases God.
God is not working in your life in a random or careless way. He has a plan and a purpose for you, as He did for Esther when she was placed where she was for a reason she could not see at first. The hard places you have been through are not without meaning. God uses seasons and times for every purpose under heaven, and He can use even trials to develop character and to make things beautiful in His time. Knowing this helps you to yield to Him rather than fight Him. Fighting what He allows can make a heart bitter, but trusting Him and saying Lord, my life is Yours, opens the way for Him to work out His good plan as you surrender to Him.
That surrender involves a choice about what will be at the center of your life. Every life revolves around some center. For many it is self, and a self centered life eventually feels like a mistake with no reason for being. God invites you to put Him at the center, to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to live a God centered life in fellowship with Him. The old life lived for self and governed by sin can be buried with Christ, and a new life governed by the Spirit can begin. You are not bound to remain what trauma made you feel you are. In Christ you can pass from death to life, and by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead you can have strength to live each day.
Living to please God is the bottom line of your existence, and it is also where rich fulfillment is found. Those who live only to please themselves cannot please God, but those who live by the Spirit find peace and joy. This means sowing to the Spirit rather than to the flesh. Jesus said His words are spirit and they are life, so to sow to the Spirit is to give yourself to His Word, to prayer, to honest fellowship with Him, and to daily choosing the Spirit over the old patterns.
If you are asking what you can do now to find your way, consider these simple steps before the Lord. Come to Jesus Christ alone for salvation and new life, confessing your need and trusting Him. Tell Him you want to be set apart for Him and to live to please Him. Spend time regularly in the Bible, not just to find an answer to one question but to know Him and to let His Spirit speak. Pray honestly about your confusion and pain, and also listen. Purpose in your heart to walk in moral purity and in the way that honors Him. Trust His timing. There are seasons for every purpose, and He is faithful to answer the heart that seeks Him with joy. As you walk with Him, He will shape you more like Jesus and show you how He wants to use your life, even your wounds, to show His grace to others.
I am praying for you that God will bring healing to the places where you were wounded, lift the heaviness of sadness and confusion, and give you a clear sense of His presence and His purpose. May He assure you that you have life in His Son, teach you to rest in His love, and guide you step by step into the life that brings Him pleasure and brings you true fullness.
