Dear God, Hear My Cry!!

Do you ever feel alone? Like you’re the only one who feels that way? Like no one will listen or understand? Like no one even cares? Please know that you are not alone.

So many times in our lives, we are faced with trials that we can’t handle. In high school, I had very few friends and was teased and made fun of. I was arrested for stealing at the age of 19. I got married to a guy who turned out to be an alcoholic and we argued all the time. I dated a guy who cheated on me and lied about it. I had to deal with the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. These were things that I had no idea how to deal with.

Some people turn to drugs or alcohol, while others turn to running away, cutting themselves, or even suicide. For me it was cutting myself to deal with my emotions. I often felt alone and like no one cared or would understand what I was feeling or going through. I cut myself because I thought I needed to see what I was feeling on the inside. Though it didn’t make the problems go away, it temporarily took my mind off of them. I did this for 12 years.

I am sure you are asking yourself, “why someone would want to hurt themselves like this?” Even though I had accepted Jesus into my life at the age of 13, I had drifted away from God and I had no idea what to do.

Eventually, I couldn’t stand looking at the scars anymore. I grabbed my Bible and started reading and praying. I told God that I didn’t want to hurt myself anymore and that I wanted Him to take this addiction from me. I instantly felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders and I felt at peace. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee” (Isaiah 26:3). I was filled with great joy.

I used to cringe every time I saw the scars on my arms or when people would ask about them. I used to feel ashamed and embarrassed, and wish that I could make them go away. Then a friend told me that my scars are my testimony of what God has done for me and what He has brought me through. Now when I look at them, I thank God for bringing me through the storms of life and making me the person I am today. And when someone asks about them, I can tell them about how God used difficult times in my life to make me stronger. Isaiah 41:10 reads “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” This verse has a whole new meaning to me now.

We are worth it! God considered the cost for our sins, looked at us, and thought we were worth it! I now firmly believe that God will never ever abandon us the way our family or friends might. We all have times when we feel like we can’t see God. But whether we’re aware of it or not, He’s always right there with us. Even if we don’t love ourselves, even if we do stuff that hurts Him, God loves us more than we can ever imagine. He’s promised that He’ll never leave us, even in the toughest times. “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds,” declares David in Psalm 147:3.

God knows what it’s like to be in pain. Jesus Himself bears the scars of His pain, and “with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). He knows what it’s like to be lonely, hurt, and scared. We are so special to Him that Jesus suffered and died on the cross, so that we could be free from all the horrible things the world throws at us.

God doesn’t expect perfection from us. He just wants us to love Him and give our troubles over to Him. He created us and knew us even before we were born and each of us is incredibly precious to Him.

If we learn to fully trust God in all aspects of our life and keep our minds focused on Him, we can become a new person. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).