Hope Shack

Simple and sweet, Leya tells the tale of her dissatisfaction with life, loss of hope and depression.    Then she shares how she found hope.  Here is her story, shared on her behalf.

An account of my journey to redemption.

Source: The Storm before The Rainbow

Dating back to my pre-teen years,I was dissatisfied with my life and myself. I felt inadequate because of the standards the society around me placed. And so I was unhappy. This lead me on a pursuit of happiness, I tried so many things from boys,alcohol to numerous self-help books and articles I could find. But all was in vain,these things only gave me short term satisfaction.

By the end of 2014,I was still battling with depression and it only seemed to be getting worse. I was frustrated because I felt I had exhausted all my options.

I decided to try something new and that was attending christian related meetings. I thought the change of environment would make me feel better and that maybe God would reward me if I did,because according to me every wrong thing in my life was as a result of God’s punishment.

So I went to a Christian youth group I had been hearing about for a while. That day I found three people talking about their relationship with God and why they chose to follow him. After listening to them I realized they had been through the same things I had gone through and the solution according to them was ‘Jesus’? They spoke Gods love for me,the good plans He had for my future and about how He wanted me just as I was because He was going to change me Himself by His power.

So that day in January 2015,I made a conscious decision to follow Jesus Christ. This means that I decided to no longer live a selfish life that revolves around me but a life that revolves around serving God and others. I didn’t have to say a special prayer,I just told God I was tired of the way I was living my life and I wanted things to change by having a relationship with him.

And now after that decision,Jesus has given me hope and meaning that nothing/no one else could. He brought light into my life and even in sad times,I’m still joyful because He gives an everlasting joy. He has transformed my thinking ultimately my actions through His teachings.
He is still working on me today,making me more and more like Him. For this reason I am unashamed of this good news because it has changed my life and it’s changing other people’s lives too.

Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 GNB