Feelings of isolation or alienation are as old as time. They can seem unique to us—like we’re the only ones—but the truth is, they are almost universal. We all get a little lost at times. We all feel alone now and then. But our feelings are not the truest thing about us. They don’t define or limit us. How we feel is not who we are.

In his book Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen, pastor Scott Sauls writes, “Many of the world’s greatest souls became their best selves not in spite of but because of their distress. Cowper wrote hopeful hymns and Van Gogh brushed epic paintings while contemplating suicide. Spurgeon preached some of his best sermons while depressed. Lincoln, Churchill, and King battled melancholy. Beethoven went deaf. C. S. Lewis buried his wife after a short, cancer-ridden marriage. Frankl, Wiesel, and Ten Boom survived the Holocaust. Ann Voskamp lost her sister and Joni Tada her ability to walk in tragic accidents. Christine  Caine suffered abuse and Tim Keller got incurable cancer. John Perkins endured jail, beatings, and death threats from white supremacists. Sometimes the deepest, truest faith feels more like defeat than it does victory.” We don’t always feel victorious, but for those who are in Christ, victory is assured. When our story is joined with his story, his present reality and glorious future become ours.

The apostle Paul says it like this:

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.”1