You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it. 

(Psalm 139:13-14 NLT) 

When life feels unbearable, it can be easy to believe that your life doesn’t matter. It can be hard to imagine any kind of purpose or reason for living because all that is happening in the present is pain. 

My friend, this is not the way God wants you or I to live. 

God has carefully crafted every part of you, and you are precious to Him. He took such care and attention to craft you into a human being. He knows your nuances, your idiosyncrasies, your likes, dislikes and preferences.  

He knows you. 

No matter what you have been through, you are valuable, and your life has purpose.  

It may be incredibly hard to reconcile a loving God with the suffering you have endured. The question of suffering in Christianity is a big one, and very commonly asked. I would not dare to attempt to bring a quick, trite answer to the issue of God’s love and suffering here but what I will say is that God’s love is stronger. Stronger than any other force in the world and able to heal the wounds received at the hands of another. 

God’s plan for you is good, even when you can’t see it. 

Even in the darkest of times God is able to bring about light. A new hope for the future. A reason to keep going.  

May I encourage you to write down three things you are thankful for in your life and reflect on the ways God has shown His care for you, even in small ways. 

I believe that this list of 3 small or large things will give you a glimpse into the way that God can bring beauty into your life, even when it feels like you are surrounded by ashes. 

Father God, 

Thank you for making me with such purpose and deliberate intent. 

I pray that you will give me a renewed sense of hope and life as I navigate the wounds of abuse and being mistreated. I believe that you are able to bring beauty out of the ashes of my situation and that, one day, I will look back and see your hand of hope so clearly through it all. 

In Jesus’ name, 

Amen.