Dear (insert your name here),
I've been watching you for many years now as you have continued to chase after things of this world. You are so tired yet do not realize that the very things you seek will never bring you true joy and contentment. You figure that the more friends you have, the more parties you attend, the cooler the clothes you wear or the car you drive, the happier you will be. Yet I see you, day in and day out, wearing yourself out and compromising all you know to be true in your efforts to impress others and fill a void that only God can fill.
I was like you once, always on the go and often running with the wrong crowd because I was lonely. I thought if I worked hard, bought stuff, and became like them that I would be happy. But the exact opposite happened. Because I compromised the godly values I had been taught and did things my own way and according to my time table, not God's, I suffered a lot of hurt and hurt a lot of people. I was miserable because I knew that most of all I hurt God, who sent his son Jesus to die for the sins of people like me.
It took a sexual assault and an embarassing wake-up call from a stranger after a long night of drinking to realize that everything I had tried to fill that God-shaped void had failed. With self-esteem so low it didn't even register, I became a suicide waiting to happen. I couldn't look myself in the mirror without feeling sick. What had I become -- what had I done to myself in the process of trying to fit into a world God never intended me to call my home?
When I hit rock bottom I knew that I had a choice to make -- either continue living a double life by being a good church girl on Sundays and lowering my standards so I would fit in with the world the rest of the week OR completely surrendering my life to the lordship of Jesus, who had died on the cross for my sins. I had accepted his salvation as a teenager but drifted far from him during my college years and early twenties. Could I ever recapture the joy of my salvation and receive his forgiveness? If I did choose to surrender myself to him, would he be enough?
The day I stopped running after things of this world and decided to run into the loving embrace of Jesus, everything changed. He welcomed me back with open arms and has spent every day of the past thirty years fulfilling the promises of his Word to love me, fill me with peace, satisfy my deepest longings, provide for my every need, and restore to me the joy of my salvation. He has been my strength, my guide, and my very best friend. The journey with him has been difficult at times, but even in the adversities I have faced he has been faithful and right beside me every single minute. In the hard times he has revealed more of himself to me and taught me time and time again that his grace is sufficient for me. In Jesus I have finally found my rest and true acceptance. I have found the love I could never find in another human being. I have found truth when others have lied to me. I have found true joy and contentment that no amount of money could ever buy.
If you are constantly on the go -- working, socializing, looking for fun no matter what the cost, I urge you to stop running! Be still and know God. He is there. He loves you and longs to fill you with the joy and peace this world will never give you. No matter what you have done to try and fill that God-shaped void in your heart, he will forgive your sin if you will confess and turn from it. As far as the east is from the west, he will remember your sin no more. Stop running and start resting in him!
