Acts 17:16-34 “And he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” (vv.26b-28)

“Why am I here?” In the chokehold of depression I asked that question over and over. My teenage and young adult years were hounded by depression and anxiety. I’d experience brief glimmers of joy and then I’d plummet into helplessness and dread. This was the repetitive pattern of my life. It finally got so bad that I stopped leaving my house. I could find no purpose for my life. I always came back to the same question, “Why am I here?”

When I turned my life over to Jesus I found the answer to my desperate question. I am here to be in relationship with him. I am his daughter and I was created to live in this exact time and place to serve him. Jesus healed me and wants to use me to reach out to others, so they can draw closer to him and receive his healing. This is my purpose!

Don’t ever give up! Jesus has a purpose for your life.

2 Samuel 5:22—6:11; Psalms 75, 76; Mark 8:1-10