You're beautiful.

This has been one of the STRANGEST months for me spiritually. I've been wrestling with much, much more than I thought I had in me to wrestle, & I've been totally caught off guard. But THROUGH this trial, I'm seeing God at work. For the first several weeks, I felt very alone. I felt ashamed. Like, "dang, God must know how I'm feeling, & I'm sure he's pretty unhappy with me". And that's the thing the devil wants to trick us into: shame. He wants us to separate from God & he'll attack our very souls in order to do so. Look even at Adam & Eve. They hid because they were ashamed that they were naked. But God is stripping me down to be skin & bones where the nitty gritty about me lies, & he says "you're beautiful". No matter what I do or what I feel, God says "you're beautiful". It's hard to swallow. It's a refreshing drink on a hot day that I just haven't been able to choke down because no one has EVER made me feel that way before. No matter where I run, there's no where God won't be. So you, when you are lured into dark places, don't be afraid because your God is there with you in the darkness, guiding you, loving you, protecting you. Do not be afraid. Just walk. And know he is there. Emmanuel: God WITH us.