You’ve tried everything you can possibly think of and nothing has worked. You’re tired of the fight and tired of losing the battle to everyone who challenges you. Slowly you sink into this pit - this place of emptiness and of alienation, a pit of darkness and despair -separating yourself from everyone in your life. You stop doing all those things that made you happy, all those things you enjoy and you lose all hope. No longer do you communicate with the outside world. You stay in that pit and live in that darkness, just hoping to survive. It’s hard down in that pit. You can’t see any light and all you can do is focus on what has happened and what has brought you to that place. You find yourself getting deeper and deeper in this pit and you have lost the hope of ever getting out. Not only do you start to feel differently about other people that were once a part of your life, before the darkness settled in, but you also start to feel differently about yourself. The days when you felt good about yourself and had the confidence to do even the normal tasks in life seem so far away and everything seems to be closing in on you. Your tears are your only companion down in that pit and you have given up. You go through day after day in that pit as if that is how your life is meant to be. You’ve stopped talking, stopped making any effort and all you do now is go through the motions of life. Then one day, and it happens out of nowhere, you hear a knock on your door. After debating about answering it for a bit, something inside you is pulling you towards the door. You get up and walk over to the door, not looking forward to what is on the other side. Slowly you open it and are blinded by such an intense light that for a moment you can’t see anything but the light. As your eyes adjust he is standing there, smiling, arms open for you. You question whether or not you should go to him. Can you trust him? You’ve been hurt many times before by people who lit up your life, but this is different. This light is brighter than any light you have ever seen, so bright that you are completely exposed. Your visitor at the door can see everything about you, nothing is left unseen. At this realization you fall to your knees in front of him and try to hide your face. Tears are running down your face making your vision blurry. Suddenly you feel a hand touching your face, and wiping away your tears. You can feel that hand lifting your face up to meet theirs. When you open your eyes, you are looking right into the face of your visitor and they are smiling! As you look deeper into their eyes you can feel loved, and accepted. This peace begins to settle over you as slowly, your visitor helps you to your feet and takes you in his arms. While he holds you there in that loving embrace you can feel everything start to melt away and the darkness you once knew, is now replaced with light. Your pit is no more. The heaviness you felt in your heart is now gone and all the things that brought you into that pit of darkness are no longer important. Your visitor reaches his right hand out to you and you take it. For the rest of your life, even if that darkness threatens to return, your new friend is with you side by side, holding your hand and guiding you through it and back into the light. You have hope. You have peace. You have rest.
“But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high” Psalm 3:3
No comments:
Post a Comment