Several weeks ago, I found myself in complete darkness. My power unexpectedly shut off on the coldest night of the year. Sitting with a hot bowl of soup, I was just settling in for a night of warmth and relaxation when my world became black. Using my phone as a light, I finished my homemade chicken noodle soup, not in the least flustered by the situation. I eventually lit some sweet, smelling candles and resorted to a battery-operated flashlight rather than relying on my phone. An hour into the darkness, my perspective began to change.
What if life was devoid of light and darkness prevailed? What if our comfortable became uncomfortable? What if there was no end in sight due to this shroud of darkness?
Sitting in the dark taught me that…
1. Life in darkness is distorted
2. Nothing is as it seems – shadows deceive, objects take on new life, the familiar has vanished
3. A balanced life is quickly thrown off kilter and your world sways precariously side to side
The dark showed me a picture of an empty life that was steeped in routine, struggles, no joy and no end in sight. The lessons learned in the darkness looked like this:
- Darkness snuffs out light and life
- Darkness steals our joy
- Darkness pretends to love and comfort-it does neither
- Darkness is a life without God
When your life is dark and overwhelmed by imbalance and a lack of focus, where do you turn for help? In your weakness, where do you turn for strength? Will you reach out and take the Hand of the One who is light?
How can you take the Hand of God when you feel lost and closed in?
1. Step out, take the first step by desiring something better
2. Find a friend who can point you to resources that will grow your light and then your joy
3. Read God’s Word. Learn His promises and truths. They will sustain you in the darkness and bring you light.
4. Step into community, a place of believers, who will walk this walk with you and support you in your journey.
God steps into our darkness, provides a light and walks with us in this journey. He is present for the moments of darkness and uncertainty as well as for the joy-filled moments of pure clarity. God is who we need when our life is out of balance and lacking focus.
[Tweet “God is our perspective changer, our light, our joy!”]
God is our perspective changer, our light, our joy! Grab hold of His Hand today. He will not let go, ever!
Please let me know how I can pray for you today!
Blessings,
Mary
Oh, and a big thank you to all my friends who offered to house me for the night. I had a warm place to sleep that night and I was feeling the love even in the dark!
Blessed to be linking with:
Great post Mary! THe dark distorts reality until it’s hard to tell what’s real. Thank God for His truths. Thank you for linking up with us at Simply Inspired Wednesdays!
God is our perspective changer. I love that! He is the Light in our darkness. What a wonderful post Mary! It’s a word that pushes fear aside and blesses with truth! Thank you!
Thank you Deb! Don’t you love how God’s light changes our darkness into something beautiful? I am blessed that you are here and thank you for your encouragement. Blessings!
I love this so much. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting in the dark and where I get the strength to go on.
I can feel the emotion in every word. 🙂
Thank you! God is sitting beside all of us and there is something about His silent presence that brings us light. May we learn to reach out and let God carry us when needed.
You put into words so much of what I’ve been learning the last year or so. The contrast of light and dark is powerful for me. And I’m realizing more and more about joy these days. Love your words, Mary. Thanks for sharing at #ThreeWordWednesday.
Your encouragement and story help me to remember that darkness is everyone’s enemy and it is only with God that we move beyond it to the light. I am always blessed when you come by because I learn so much from you.
And I’m so glad that God’s light overcomes the darkness in our lives. Your contemplations, Mary, do bring “light” to how very blessed we are with the Lord in our lives. It makes me think about all those who “sit in darkness.” How in the world do they make it through a day?! We are blessed, my friend! So very blessed to have the Lord’s light and guidance in this life. Hugs to you!
Yes indeed we are very blessed. God’s light will always lead us and provide what we need. Knowing Him is such a gift that I pray all people will someday be able to experience. I always love seeing your beautiful face here and for your sweet words of encouragement. Love and hugs@
Oh how I do remember all those years spent in the dark. And there are days when darkness looms but what Joy to know His hand is right there. I believe it’s the time I spend in His word and with Him that helps me to take that step much quicker than I ever did before. Beautiful encouragement, Mary. Love you. xoxo
The dark can easily surround, distort our view and even consume us if we let it. But you are right, God’s word, His promises and truths keep us in His light and that is all we need. May the light of Christ be our guide each day and lead us out of the darkness and ever closer to Him. Love and hugs friend!
I spent many years in the dark – very angry, overwhelmed and frustrated. It looked like I had no way out. I convinced myself I’d never feel joy again and frankly I didn’t feel worthy to. I had rejected God and remained stuck, believing the shadows. He literally moved me out of my home state into a brand new life. And I found Him here with the help of some very dear friends. Now when the dark tries to creep in, I repeat a Bible verse in my mind or better, sing a song worshipping God! Thank you for this post today! It’s shown me how far I’ve come in my walk. Blessings!
Your heart is so open with your own story and it blesses me so much. God takes us out of the dark into the light and He loves doing it. I also love to repeat Bible verses and sing worship songs because the words comfort and reassure. Your presence here blessed me so much today.
Thank you. A beautiful, enlightening blog. That picture is so nice and meaningful. Cast your bread (the lessons God teaches every day) out on the waters of the our www and you’ll find it after many days.
(Ps: I’ve retweet your tweet)
Blessed by your words of encouragement! Thank you for sharing my tweet! I love having new online friends! Have a blessed day!
Mary, there is so much truth packed into this post. I spent many years of my life in the dark, and the longer you stay there, the harder it is to see the light and come back to it. Your post reminds me how much our vision can be obstructed by it. Thank you for sharing the Light of his Word with others. Blessed to have you at #RaRaLinkup. -Abby
So glad to get to “meet” you. I find there can be so much darkness even when we are in the light. It’s a beautiful thing to have the light of Christ in my life. Thank you for hosting the linkup and stopping over here. Blessings!
Good Morning, Mary!
As I was musing over your words, Psalm 139:12 popped into my mind. I had to look it up to be sure of what he wrote. ‘Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.’
No wonder you felt peaceful and safe and secure. He was there front and center … as always. What a wonderful Savior!
I hope your week is going well and that the lights are back on in full force. We’ve lost our heat a few times in recent weeks and yes, it is most unsettling.
And cold.
Hugs, lovely friend, for you …
Thank you for the reminder of Psalm 139:12. It is my favorite Psalm and this reinforces how God is in our mess, our joy and our everything. My week continues to improve. I am learning so much and through it all God is right there. I have been thinking about you and your family with all the snow that was headed your way yesterday. I pray you are warm, safe and not snowed in.
Blessed by your hugs-even though virtual and your words that always create such a lovely place in my heart.
What a wonderful testimony! It is amazing how the Spirit can see things that we could often think to be a bad experience. It is lovely to hear how your perspective was focused on Jesus and led you to write this wonderful post! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Blessed you stopped by Ruth! My favorite moments are usually the ordinary ones that God takes and uses to teach me and others. Blessings!
When I read your post, I thought about how in the dark we can start to have fear and anxiety about all the shadows and things we can’t see. I spent a lot of years living in the dark, fearing everything. How grateful I am that Jesus lit up my world! He turned on the lights, so to speak, so that I can see that it was just a chair or a lamp making those scary shadows I spent so many hours fearing. There’s nothing to be afraid of when He’s around. Thank you for your post. I have to tell you, what you wrote here really touched my heart and echoed with the words I heard Jesus speaking to me during my prayer time this morning. Thank you for sharing!
Jenni
Your sweet encouragement is God-breathed! I love how His voice was already whispering to you this morning about this very topic of dark. Don’t you love how He knows just what we need at the exact time we need it. So blessed to meet you here and for your words with touched me! Blessings!
wow, that is great insight! Everything in darkness is distorted, deceiving and unbalanced! Wow, that’s what I’m chewing on today.
After you chew on it some more I would love to hear your thoughts or reflections. Thank you for joining me here. Hope your day has been blessed!
Great tips on stepping closer to God’s light when we find ourselves in darkness, Mary. I find myself there far too often. Visiting you and reading your words is another helpful tip :). If you ever find yourself in need of a home with electricity again, mine is always open to you, my friend!
Thanks for the offer of your home! Now we just need to get together because we want to. It is so easy to find ourselves in a dark place. Satan works hard but I need to remind myself that God always works harder. Love seeing you here today!
So beautiful to know that even in the dark, God is walking by our side. He can bring light to even the darkest room.
Yes He can!I am so blessed that God chooses to teach me even in moments when I just want to feel irritated by the circumstances. Thank you for being a bright light for me here on my blog! Have a great day!