A prodigal son returns to faith

Funny how life has a way of coming full circle. Up until 2020 (ish...sometime early during the pandemic years) I had been very much under the influence of my evangelical background and upbringing. Church every Sunday, community group every Thursday; did my best to read my Bible and have a quiet time daily. Then the pandemic happened and my wife and I stopped going to church, mostly from the practical standpoint of trying to minimize our exposure to COVID. But that period between 2020 and 2024 gave me the time and space to really think about what I believe and whether my beliefs made any sense or were even moral. Long story short, I ended up de-constructing my faith during that time period, to the point where I really didn't consider myself a Christian at all.

Fast-forward to 2026, my wife and I separated, my work situation feels like it's falling apart, gas prices are skyrocketing (and I have a long commute to work), I'm dealing with intense loneliness at times, which has led to considerable anxiety and bouts of depression. This has compelled me to dust off my faith and lean on it again (minus the wildly unBiblical, unloving aspects of evangelical Christianity). I've been diving back into Bible study, prayer time, and reading/listening to Christian books and podcasts. I feel like it's helping me immensely already. Verses like Romans 8:31:

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things?"

And in verse 35:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, no height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

It's helping me keep perspective on everything I'm going through right now: that no matter how depressing my circumstances become, the source of my affliction is a sovereign, loving God who "works all things for the good of those who love Him." Therefore I can trust that difficult periods of life are achieving something better than if I had not suffered at all.