Wednesday December 28, 2016

This time of year is supposed to be cheerful, meeting with family and friends for the holidays. For some, though, it is not. I recently had a nephew commit suicide, so for my Brother & Sister-in-Law and niece these past few days have been anything but. The days have been very dark. There are a lot of us that have very dark days and this time of the year is especially dark.

I, too, have had many dark days. Relationships are strained. Coping in becoming a "free man." Keeping myself busy. There have been days when I have groped around in the dark looking for the light switch.

It is at those times when I sit and have devotions. I read the stories and then open my bible to the corresponding verses and suddenly the Light of my Savior comes. Now this does not make me "suddenly happy and gay," no my day may still be tough. But just knowing, then, that God is walking with me does something for my heart. The darkness may not be completely gone, but I am no longer in utter darkness. Just knowing that I can go to Jesus at any time, in prayer, lightens the heaviness that I have been carrying.

Now you may not be one that readily opens the bible and begins to read. Just know that you can go to your Creator at ANY TIME, and talk with Him. In doing so He will begin to lighten the load that has burdened you. By going to Him in prayer, you are acknowledging, to Him, that you are in need of help, and in so doing, you humble yourself before Him. Jesus then takes you into His arms and holds you.

I know that was hard for me. Giving up, giving in, admitting that I was helpless to do anything to alleviate what I was going through, was tough to do. The world tells us that this is not "natural." It goes against what we have been told. But this world looks at the outside of a situation or circumstance. The world tells us we need to do it ourselves, no one else will help. It is a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps," type of mentality. But our Heavenly Father is not of this world. His ways are not the ways of the world. He does not think as the world thinks. And that is the liberating Spirit of Christ. He tells us to be different, from this world. To believe in Him and not this world.

Giving up and giving in, to Him, allows His Light to enter into your heart and give you the peace and joy that this world can never give you. His grace and mercy dispels the darkness that you are in. Now you may say, "Hey, dude, I have done that and I am still in darkness. My life is going nowhere and I have no hope that things will change." To that I have to say that you are not at the bottom yet. In your heart you are still trying to do it on your own. I too was that way, then I hit bottom. My life was shattered and broken. I lay at the bottom of the hole that "I had dug" bleeding, bruised and broken. It was then my heart was ready to accept what Christ had, for so long, been telling me. My heart accepted the fact that I could not do it, I could not put my life back together.

For some of us, myself included, that is what it takes in order that we begin to listen to His voice, calling us back to Him. For some, though, they know that they can't do it and come to Him before calamity befalls them. In either case, He lovingly brings us to the path that He wants us to walk. Know that He DOES allow us to fall into our holes, in order to get our attention. We have dug the holes by the sinful life we have lead. He does not like to do that, but for some, again myself included, the "2x4 upside the head" is what it takes. And in that there will be anger at Jesus for allowing it to happen. But if we surrender to Him in these cases, we can later reflect on what has happened, and thank Him for what He allowed to happen. We will begin to see that He walked with us through all of what we have gone through, and that will bring praise for Him to our lips.

There is evil in the world because of the fall of Adam and Eve. That was not in God's plan, but He did not make either one of them robots, doing what He wanted. He gave each one of us the "free will" to do what we want. He wants us to follow Him, but many do not want to, because the world is much more desirable, because of our sinful nature. But once we come to Christ, we finally see that His ways are better than the worlds ways. He blesses us for our obedience to Him and His ways. It is then that we begin to understand His love for us, our hearts feel this love and wants more and more of it. We have an inner peace that we have not experienced before, and we don't want to leave it! But we also see that this world holds nothing but heartache, doubt, fear and rejection, a place that we don't want to go back to.

I will pray for you, that 1) you come to Jesus before you hit rock bottom, but 2) if you do, that you will look to Him for your healing. By doing that, you will begin to see Jesus for who He truly is, the loving, merciful, and gracious Savior who died for you and me. Neither one of us has walked too far from Him. He continually pursues us, calling out our names, telling us to follow Him. Allow His shed blood cover your sins, which they already do. But, if you have listened to the words of this world, and think that you are too far gone for Christ to help, know that is Satan talking and he only spews lies from his mouth. Jesus died for you, and me. He conquered death, meaning eternal separation from Him.

Take time today to go to Him in prayer and allow His glorious light come into your heart, dispelling the darkness of sin and eternal death. Allow Him to heal your wounds and put you on His path to blessings, peace, and an inner peace. Acquiring them will bring about a change in your life, in a way that others will notice. And a life that will bless you in ways that you have never seen.