My childhood was challenging. I grew up in a tough area in the Bronx where survival was more important than education. Running home from school to avoid fights and gunshots was normal.

Then, while already living in a small apartment, my cousins came to live with us after my uncle—a drug dealer—was murdered and my aunt was sent to a recovery program for help with her addiction to crack cocaine. Add my ailing grandmother into the picture, who was struggling with Alzheimer’s, and my situation made for some tough times. But the toughest part, by far, was when my father left my family just shy of my 16^th birthday.

As I grew older, these tough childhood experiences created feelings of inadequacy.

Often times, life didn’t feel fair. I didn’t choose these circumstances; I was thrust into them. As I grew older, these tough childhood experiences created feelings of inadequacy. I thought people would judge me because of my past. I feared people would look at me differently because of my broken family. But my childhood experiences have not limited God; he has used me anyway, despite my dark past and shortcomings.

Maybe you’ve had a challenging childhood and question God’s purpose for your life. Maybe you wonder why you’ve been dealt such a tough hand. Or maybe you feel angry that you have not benefited from the same opportunities as those around you. But in these moments, do not let your experiences limit what God can do!

Despite the difficulties you have faced—rejection, abandonment, loneliness, abuse, sickness—God loves you with an inconceivable love.

Despite the difficulties you have faced—rejection, abandonment, loneliness, abuse, sickness—God loves you with an inconceivable love. He promises to never abandon you. And through his Word, he offers hope.

Adapt a new way of thinking about your future by meditating on these four verses:

1. Ephesians 2:10 (GNTD)
   God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.
2. Psalm 18:35 (GNTD)
   O Lord, you protect and save me; your care has made me great.
3. John 5:4 (CEV)
   Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory.
4. John 10:10 (GNTD)
   The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness.