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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We are so

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Speaker 1: glad to have you listening with us here today. Today's

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Speaker 1: topic is about realizing we are not alone. We will

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Speaker 1: return after a brief message from our sponsor. You are

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Speaker 1: not Alone, written by Lauren Fletcher, read by Rochelle ALBERTI

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Speaker 1: Bible Ready, when you go through deep waters, I will

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Speaker 1: be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty,

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Speaker 1: you will not drown. When you walk through the fire

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Speaker 1: of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames

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Speaker 1: will not consume you. Isaiah forty three too. When I

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Speaker 1: was in college, I went through an unexpected season of

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Speaker 1: loss in my second year. It was a year of

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Speaker 1: transition for me. Many of my upper classmen friends had graduated,

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Speaker 1: I had a new roommate, and I had just finished

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Speaker 1: my first job at a summer camp. I had met

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Speaker 1: many close friends there and it was hard to leave.

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Speaker 1: Depression hit and I wasn't ready for it. It scared

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Speaker 1: me and I didn't know how to deal with it.

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Speaker 1: I tried my best to manage my emotions while balancing

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Speaker 1: school and living on my own. Things snowballed, and when

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Speaker 1: I started struggling in my classes, I felt a sense

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Speaker 1: of hopelessness, not enthusiasm for the future. I had a

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Speaker 1: teacher whom I constantly let down in my own eyes

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Speaker 1: by being late to her class. One of our assignments

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Speaker 1: was a behavior change project, in which we had to

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Speaker 1: identify areas we wanted to change. Of course, I chose tardy,

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Speaker 1: as I was very transparent in my project. She saw

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Speaker 1: that I needed help. My lateness stemmed from this depression.

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Speaker 1: She suggested counseling, and this changed my trajectory. It was

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Speaker 1: hard to feel like I had to figure things out

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Speaker 1: on my own while I was away at school. I

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Speaker 1: put all of this responsibility upon myself because I felt

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Speaker 1: like that was what I was supposed to do as

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Speaker 1: an adult. If I were to talk to myself now

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Speaker 1: looking back, I would share this verse from Matthew. Then,

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Speaker 1: Jesus said, come to me, all of you who are

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Speaker 1: weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

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Speaker 1: Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because

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Speaker 1: I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will

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Speaker 1: find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy

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Speaker 1: to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

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Speaker 1: Matthew eleven twenty eight through thirty. We all face difficult times,

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Speaker 1: and when we do, we need help. We can't do

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Speaker 1: it on our own. I was ashamed of my depression

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Speaker 1: and tried to hide it, but what I shouldn't have

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Speaker 1: done was reach out to those around me. I look

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Speaker 1: back on this season many times and still feel the

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Speaker 1: sting of how hard things were. I don't always see

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Speaker 1: where God was in that time, but I know He

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Speaker 1: was always there. I was never alone, despite my feelings

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Speaker 1: intersecting faith and life. When I reflect upon that time,

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Speaker 1: I know that God was with me in my sorrow.

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Speaker 1: I think of how the word compassion means to suffer with.

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Speaker 1: Jesus set the example of what that is. When his

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Speaker 1: friend Lazarus died, Jesus wept John eleven thirty five. He

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Speaker 1: experienced sorrow alongside Mary and Martha, who were grieving. God

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Speaker 1: promises us in his word that He will be with

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Speaker 1: us when we are suffering. In Psalms, David says, the

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Speaker 1: Lord is close to the broken hearted. He rescues those

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Speaker 1: whose spirits are crushed Psalm thirty four eighteen. Another way

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Speaker 1: I know God was with me was through the help

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Speaker 1: of those around me during that time of depression. I

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Speaker 1: wanted to help a member of my church. Though I tried,

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Speaker 1: I was in way over my head. Both the friend

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Speaker 1: and the local church stepped in and provided the help

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Speaker 1: I wanted to give this woman. It blessed me so

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Speaker 1: much that they would carry that burden with me. In Galatians,

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Speaker 1: it says, therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should

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Speaker 1: do good to everyone, especially to those in the family

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Speaker 1: of faith Galatians six ten. Not only do I see

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Speaker 1: how God works through the support of my friends, I

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Speaker 1: see him most evidently through the teacher who suggested that

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Speaker 1: I get help from our school's care Ehling center. Despite

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Speaker 1: how I felt that year, I know that God's hand

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Speaker 1: was on my life through Kulseling. He provided help and

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Speaker 1: away out of the depression. I had hope again and

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Speaker 1: geld to see light. In the darkness of seasons like this,

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Speaker 1: it's tough to see how you'll get to the other side,

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Speaker 1: but God knows. God also provided by surrounding me with

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Speaker 1: friends that year, though I never shared about my struggles

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Speaker 1: with them, I was held in love by my father.

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Speaker 1: Psalm says, but the Lord watches over those who fear him,

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Speaker 1: those who rely on his unfailing love, Psalm thirty three eighteen.

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Speaker 1: Is there a season in your life that has been difficult?

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Speaker 1: Has it been hard to see God where he is

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Speaker 1: and what he is doing? I would to share this

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Speaker 1: urse with you. You keep track of all my sorrows.

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Speaker 1: You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You

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Speaker 1: have recorded each one in your book Psalm fifty six eight.

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Speaker 1: God sees everything that you've gone through, and he's with you.

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Speaker 1: He will take care of you. Further reading Psalm thirty seven,

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Speaker 1: Psalm forty one through three, Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven,

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Speaker 1: Psalm one hundred and thirty nine, Psalm one hundred and

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Speaker 1: twenty one, Hebrews thirteen five, Psalm forty six one. The

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Speaker 1: Crosswalk Devotional is a production of Life Audio and Salem Media.

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