The Parks

I've done a lot of terrible things in my life, things that have hurt people I love. I've messed up relationships and made poor decisions. Sometimes I feel guilty and worry that I wasted a lot of my life.

I hope you've never felt that way. But if you have, I want to encourage you with a verse that has really helped me. Joel 2:25-26: "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten...You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed."

At first I found the reference to locusts a little strange, since I have never had a swarm of locusts destroy my crops. (I don't even have crops.) But the "locusts" in my life have been addiction, depression, loneliness, fear, and self-hatred. They have robbed me of years of fulfillment and purpose and kept me from living the life God created me to live.