It was a little challenging to return to my devotion today. Because the truth is I sank into a tide of sorrow last night and great were my laments. . . 
Lament: (noun) a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. . . aka wail, moan,weep,sob
Great was my lamenting.
Lament: (verb) to mourn a person’s loss or death 
But return I did. . . to John 10:10: 

” I came so that they may have life and have it abundantly.” I recalled the other scripture of John 10:11 revealing Him to me as the Good Shepherd.  
And then God pulled me to this one:
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” I Peter 2:24-25 
I cry out. . . I weep and I wail. . . And I pine. . and I have been slain. . . 

And not a bit, not a drop of it is wasted –

For it is through suffering that He became the Good Shepherd and it is through suffering that I am no longer a stray sheep. . .but a good sheep who returns to a good Shepherd who is also the Overseer of my soul . Beauty from bitterness. . . a crown from my ashes. . . Roses springing forth from the thorns. 
It is His way. And He is my way. . . my truth and my life. . . no one makes sense of the suffering quite like Him.
#EG41 #useEllis2tellus