Beauty for Ashes

I have been so sick... so broken.  So deep in depression, discouragement, fear, shame, guilt over my failures, rejection... so unable to function.
BUT GOD, you stepped in, took my hand, and said, "Come on daughter, let me show you what you can do, what you can be, in Me.  Come on, it's OK, we will take it one step at a time.  Don't be afraid, I will never let go of your hand.  I will give you My strength. You are safe with Me.  There is a life awaiting you, even more abundant than you can imagine.  I won't give up on you.  I Am your Daddy.  I am a good Daddy.  You can trust Me.  I know you lost your joy for awhile there.  You even wondered about your reason for living.  This was all so that you could find your reason for living again, in Me.  You live because I MADE YOU.  I WANT YOU.  I LOVE YOU.  You are my greatest treasure.  You are my child, my wife, my friend.  YOU BELONG TO ME.  This is why you live."

Thank you God for showing me what I can be.  Thank you for healing me.  For taking all that fear, shame, depression, discouragement, and rejection and giving me beauty for ashes.  How can I ever thank you enough?  Thank you for showing me what I mean to you.  That fact that you went to the cross should have been enough for me to know how much I meant to you... but I just needed to hear you say it.

I am sharing this because God wanted me too.  Because you may need to hear it as much as I did.