Christian Crier
Here are seven Bible verses about the times when you feel unloved or worthless.
Exodus 4:10 “Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
When Moses was about to go back into Egypt some forty years later to free the nation of Israel from their harsh bondage of slavery, he was hesitant and told God that he was not eloquent of speech and slow of tongue but God tells Moses, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Ex 4:11-12). It’s not a matter of human skill or persuasion but of God’s power so it’s not necessary to be eloquent of speech or smooth talking. We need only speak the words of God and leave the results up to Him.
First Kings 19:4 “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
Elijah had just been running for his life and now finally gave up. He desired for God to take his life. This is a death wish of a sort, or at least a desire for to die. Elijah wanted God to take him home; he was done. Elijah felt worthless, and like many of us do, we have pity parties and invite as many people to come as possible, but often, not many will show up because this party since all about us. When we take our eyes off of Jesus, we can be discontented but contentment is possible if we are “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
Jonah 4:3 “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Here is where Jonah’s anger that Nineveh repented brought him to the point of asking God to take his life. This is not suicide but leaving his life in the hands of God and asking Him to take his life and not wanting to take his own life. Suicide is murdering ourselves and is a very serious sin, but when we want to put a period in our life, God wants us to make it a comma.
Second Corinthians 1:8 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.”
Don’t think that the Apostle Paul was that much different from us, at least in the sense that at times, he despaired of life. Have you ever felt unloved or worthless? Many of the Christians I know have confessed that they felt like giving up, much like Jonah and Elijah, and here in this verse, even the Apostle Paul was so overburdened beyond his strength that he despaired of life. This wasn’t a death wish but an honest, open confession that at times he felt completely overwhelmed. Have you ?
Numbers 11:15 “If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
Have you seen a patter yet? Many of the biblical heroes of the faith didn’t act like heroes at times because they just wanted to give up and die, and so it was with Moses. Moses had heard so many grumblings and complaints from the Israelites that he finally thought, “enough is enough Lord. Take me home.” It wasn’t that Moses wanted to commit suicide; probably knowing that this was sin, but he wanted God to do it for him, but like Jonah and Elijah, Moses was feeling sorry for himself and that happens to all of us at one time or another.
Jeremiah 20:14 “Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!”
Jeremiah, just like Job, cursed the day of his birth. This wasn’t a literal curse but a desire that they had never been born. Many Christians go through this too at times and wished that they had never been born but they don’t stay there. They usually see that God is using their suffering for His glory and for their good (Rom 8:28) and it changes their perspective.
Job 3:3 “Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.”
Job did the same thing as Jeremiah did; he just wished that he had never been born, but before we are too hard on Job, remember that he had lost everything; all of his children, all of his possessions, and in the end, even his friends turned on him, blaming him for his own suffering. Never let us be such a friend as Job’s friends but instead, try to console those who are suffering and show them compassion and understanding because it could just as easily be us.
Conclusion
I hope you can find comfort in these Scriptures and elsewhere in the Bible when you feel worthless or unloved. When you feel like that, just think about this; Jesus died for you while you were still an ungodly, wicked sinner who was God’s enemy (Rom 5:6-1) and God loved us enough to send His one and only Son to die for us and all who would believe in Him.
Article by Jack Wellman
Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.
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