Take a walk in the dark
Sometimes God sends you through dark times in life. Why? I don’t know yet. When He sends me through a shady place in life, one thing I try to do, though, is thank Him for it. I mean, yeah, I want to complain and go on and on about how bad it is, but then I think again and realize He would not have sent me this trial if He did not know I could make it through.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (I Corinthians 10:13)
You will be able to bear it. He provides us a way of escape just like He allowed the time of testing. The other thing I do, is try to imagine how I will grow once I am on the other side of this struggle.
Living in a black hole
Have you ever got up at night and tried to get through the house without turning on a light? I have done it often while trying to not disturb my wife or children with lights in the house. I have had to learn to renavigate my home in the dark. A place I thought I knew so well is a whole new world in the dark.
You learn more about a place in the dark. You learn how many steps it is until you run into an ironing board, that the floor will squeak just before the staircase, and how the floor rises a little just past the pantry. You don’t notice those things when the lights are on because you rely on your eyesight. In the dark, all your other senses get a chance to sharpen.
Believing is seeing
Many people think they are good Christians until they hit a dark time. Then, they may feel like they don’t know God at all—like He is not even there. I’ve learned, though, that the refrigerator is still there, even if you cannot see it. You might stub a toe or trip on a laundry basket, but the trip is worth it when you get to the fridge and grab that cool, soft peach.
When you are alone in the dark, you often want company. However, in the darkness, everyone is alone in a way. No one can give you a map through the dark times in life. I have gone through some black holes of depression and mental anguish that no one else understands. I have tried to help others going through the same issues, but I have learned that most of us have to learn the path for ourselves.
My depression taught me what true joy was. The darkness was so thick those many years back that I wanted to die. I hated life. But after deciding to walk anyway, knowing the Lord would not kick me out the backdoor, I learned to love life.
The light at the end of the darkness
Thank God there is a fridge waiting for me now when I go stumbling through an unlit house at midnight. When I reach my destination and open the door, the darkness disappears as light streams from that refreshing source of tasty treats. Even more thanks be to God that He is the light at the end of my tunnel. I can get through every dark zone knowing He is there to fill and refresh me once again.
I lost my fear of death when I learned to walk in the dark. Rejection, disappointment, and uncertainty aren’t the big, hairy monsters they used to be. I’ve faced them and pushed back and found them to be just a blanket on a chair or a curtain casting a shadow. Most people get paralyzed in the dark. They fear moving forward. Many quit their walk with God here.
I think I did not know what living for God was like until I chose to walk in the dark. You don’t choose the dark, it will come uninvited. You choose to walk in it. You choose to live for God anyway. I have found deep secrets of joy in the most distressing and hopeless moments of life. How? Get up and walk and you can find them for yourself. It is your life, your journey, and you have a wonderful Friend to help you through it all. And He isn’t afraid of the dark.