This is an open letter to any man, woman, boy or girl who has lost everything they had and everyone they knew. Living with loss, whether it be in the form of time, money, homes, possessions or the people we love, is never an easy subject to talk about. Sometimes the losses can happen when we did nothing to cause it. But sometimes we do cause it even when we have the best of intentions.

One day, we could be laughing and enjoying quality time with someone we care about, be it a friend, significant other or a family. The next day they could vanish and you could never hear from them again. Time can separate families and friends. Friends you had known for years can suddenly or gradually become strangers. Losing time is one of the hardest things to accept.

We all have the freedom to make choices. Every choices comes with a consequence, good or bad. We can either capitalize on an opportunity in the moment, or we can pass up on it. Either way, we must choose. When we lose something, we typically want to trace our steps back to what caused it us to lose it. We may look back with many regrets for choices we've made. "If only I had done this instead of that", "I wonder what would've happened if I did this instead". We cannot change the past. The past is set in stone. But, we can always change the future.

There may be someone, somewhere who will read this, who has lost everything or is on the verge of losing something important to them. Fear will often try to overtake us in these moments. In these dark times when we feel the most alone, when the people we thought could understand may not be able to.

Your life is not over. God is not finished with you. He has a great plan for every single one of us. We may not know all of what it is, and we may get it wrong sometimes. But he always is there for us in those moments when we feel like giving up, when everyone else has walked away. He is there, waiting. Not to scold us on our past mistakes, but to encourage us and give us strength and faith to believe that no matter what happens, all things will be worked together for our good (Romans 8:28).

I am always brought back to the book of Job where even a righteousness man such as him had lost everything he had. He experienced a great many terrible things that he did nothing to deserve yet we learn at the end there was a purpose for it. God in his sovereignty sometimes allows us to experience some unusual and often painful things so that our faith may be refined in him and bring glory to himself.

In the end, God restored ten-fold what Job had lost. It may not be in the ways we expect or hope for, but if we stay faithful to him we can expect our reward in heaven. To the one who has lost something, or everything. All hope is not lost. The things we may have attempted may not have worked out at the time, we may have lost time and opportunities we cannot get back. But God is able to do exceedingly abundantly. He has given each of us a purpose and if we choose to live our lives for him, nothing is ever done in vain.

So, let the past be the past. Let no one define you by your past, but let the God who has redeemed you define who you are. He is the architect of your future, and all expects is one step of faith toward him. He will run to you with open arms and give you more love than you could have ever imagined. He is worth anything you may have lost or experienced. And you are his child, chosen to be a light in a dark world.