From Darkness To Light

       A friend tells about his experience of cancer treatments including chemo, a bone marrow transplant, and months in the hospital.  He said, not only was his body exhausted, but also his mind and soul.  His world was void of any kind of sunshine or connection.  He was done.  In his despair and loneliness, like many of us do, he called on the Lord, asking for ‘something, anything’ to lift his spirit.  He wanted out of the dark world in which he’d seemed to have fallen.

To match the darkness in his soul, rain was falling outside.  Yet, as the rain fell, looking out the windows, he noticed how the drops were splashing and tiny bits of light reflected and caused sparkling into many colors against the fallen leaves.  

       The thunder that rolled above him surprisingly seemed to sound like music in perfect rhythm.  He could feel his mood lifting as he reflected on the Psalm he had read earlier in the day!  Instead of drowning in darkness, he was now experiencing a joy he couldn’t have imagined possible even hours before.

My friend isn’t alone in his perception of darkness and loneliness, when trials of many kinds, alter our world.  Everyone has issues.  Sometimes it’s medical, like my friend.  But it can be financial worries, relationship upheavals, death or divorce, an accident we are never prepared for, and even the turmoil of trying to keep our spiritual life on the right track as Satan attacks us on every turn.

We wake up and even before we begin our day, we are discouraged and defeated. We’ve given up before our feet even hit the floor. When times are hard we often lose the ability to focus on anything that is good.  We can’t seem to see beyond the pain we are experiencing even though our head knows that our Creator remains steadfast.  We stumble on the road blocks Satan puts in our path blurring the Divine Light God is shining.

When we look for it, however, we often find reason to smile, in spite of ourselves!  God knows where we are and the circumstances which have put us in darkness.  It’s really about perspective.  When we allow the Holy Spirit to reign over the darkness enveloping us, we see a glimmer of light.  As we process the Light, God can alter our thought processes and change the darkness into something welcoming, safe and much closer to His perspective.

Sometimes perspective comes from another Believer.  Other times it’s from reading His Word and placing ourselves in a state of prayer, in communion with The Father.  Other times it might come from the voice or hug from a child; or even breathing in God’s coloring book in the form of a wondrous picture of nature.  As our hearts and minds are changed with the ‘hug’ from God in whatever form it comes, we can feel our world of loneliness, darkness and sadness lifting into a place we hadn’t expected.  

If you are facing a dark, difficult time, I pray you will reach out and accept the ‘hug’ God sends in His unique way.  When accepting his love, may you be refreshed in his Divine Light.