It's All About Him

 "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."  1John 5:5

    On February 27, 2012, Sadie was taking cover amid the gunfire resounding in Chardon High School. The perpetrator was her brother, T. J. Lane.

    Before this tragedy unfolded, little Sadie was already a victim of the enemy's lies, believing she was fat and ugly and that no one wished to befriend her. This negative self-image, coupled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the shooting, sent Sadie spiraling into eating disorders and depression. If all this weren't enough, a year after TJ's incarceration, her older brother succumbed to a heroin overdose. "I thought the purpose of my life," she lamented, "was to lose people and be in pain." She was mad at God and questioned Him.

    What Sadie saw as her last hope came in the form of an opportunity to participate in a two-month mission trip to Zimbabwe. By this time in her life, Sadie knew she needed help: "I thought, 'If Jesus isn't who He says He is, I have no reason to live.'" The trip transformed her life. "I met the real Jesus there," she said. "I came back changed, I came back free. I didn't care about food...It's all about Him; it's not about me."

    This brought to my mind the words of an Alan Jackson song, "It's All About Him":

"It's all about Him and the love that He gives,

Redemption and hope for all who have sinned.

You can walk all alone, never find your way home,

Till you see deep within - It's all about Him."

    If you find yourself in a dark place, your Savior is Jesus Christ alone. Only He has the power to break the chains that bind us. I beg of you: Cry out to Him!

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

"He has sent (Jesus) to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61: 1-3