Not "Just Another One"

A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a girl online who said she was contemplating suicide. I tried to reach out to her by sharing some of my own experiences with depression so that she would know that I really did understand some of what she was going through. Naturally God came up in the conversation, and while she wasn’t a Christian, she didn’t disbelieve in the existence of God or a god.
She wanted to know why she was suffering. Why God, who supposedly loved her, wasn’t saving her from this bad situation. If God was really all-loving and all-powerful, then there wouldn’t be evil and suffering in the world, and she wouldn’t be unloved and wanting to kill herself with no one but people on the internet to talk to. She felt unimportant and worthless.
        “I’m just another one of God’s creations.”
We talked for a while after that, but those words stuck with me. Just that one sentence carried so much hurt. I’m just another one of God’s creations. I don’t really matter; He doesn’t care about me in particular. I’m just another one of His little toys, put on this earth to live and to suffer. What do I matter?
I wish that I could have made her understand just how treasured she is.
There is no ‘just’ about it. God created every person with purpose; He didn’t toss in a few extra thousand to act as fillers. He crafted each and every person, “fearfully and wonderfully”, and has a plan for them.
I don’t know if this girl, Zara, is alive right now. I haven’t heard from her since that day. I don’t know if my words made a difference – and I probably never will. But I pray that they did. I pray that God opened her eyes to see Him and her heart to receive His love.

Whoever you are, whatever stage of life you might be in, never forget this: You are not “just another one”. You were made carefully, lovingly, with purpose. God has neither forgotten nor forsaken you. Take heart.

~Riah