My first article

After a great weekend (busy, of course, but great) I wanted to show you all an article I wrote. Forgive me if it’s patchy or rough or grammarly incorrect or something:)

“Why?” A question so often wondered by people of every age. A question that will behave as a chain, pulling you down to the depths of despair. A question that takes you places you never wanted to go. And yet, it’s a question that people cannot live without. It’s impossible. Humans were created by God approximately 6,000 years ago. We were never given the knowledge of all things, just good. But that innocence was ruined by one choice; a choice that embraced sin. Evil took a hold. We were now capable of terrible things, and there was a surety that terrible things would happen to us.

And the why? Well, we could start from the beginning. Why did Eve have to reach for the fruit? Why did Adam have to follow his wife in eating it? But wait. Aren’t we being quite selfish when we ask those questions? We think we deserve to ask that when we would have done the same thing. Let’s ask this question instead.

Why did God create people in the first place? Thnk about that. Why did He create such creatures as us? How could human beings be worthy of existence?

The answer to this, friends, answers every “why” you could ever ask. Why? For God’s glory. The problem is, we are so lost in sin that we are exceptionally good at ignorance and forgetfulness. We are not worthy of any glory. We don’t remember or think about the fact that the “why’s” in our lives are for God’s glory. They may be to teach us or others something, or maybe for no clear reason to humans at all. But as the verse from Romans says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those that love God.” (Rom. 8:28)

So next time you ask, or plead, or cry, or scream “why?” as the question does its devastating work, pray that God would open your heart to His peace… peace in knowing that it is all for Him. If that does not give you comfort, you may have to re-examine your priorities. Though we are all guilty of being idol-factories, our number one priority should be to live for God’s glory. When we have that as our goal, we are glorifying Him. That is a human-being’s purpose in life; whether they like it or not. No matter what you do, or where you are, or anything; that is your purpose.

Now, make no mistake. It is not easy. It is hard to understand. But we can go forward in life tired, exhausted, hurting, wondering “why” and come to that humbling conclusion; it is all for God’s glory. With that, we can only trust that He is holding us tight… and will never let go. What a beautiful, freeing answer to live by!

Please reply or talk to me if you have questions/concerns/kind criticism about this article. I would love to connect with you, especially if you are older adults with advice or teens like me with questions or just something to say.

Elyssa