Is our darkness as dark as we think?
There have been many times in my life where I thought that the darkness of a trial, situation or event would overtake me and cause me to lose focus. During such periods, there were times where I would fret, blame, complain, and live in denial. The shadows seemed to grow darker and more haunting to my soul. It seemed as though I was in a forbidden forest and couldn’t find my way out.
Over the years I have learned that those shadows were often times something that I invited. They were something that I was so familiar with, that I couldn’t or wouldn’t recognize that they were hindering me. I walked around putting on awesome performances of being more than okay. I had the ability of convincing others that all was well. The sad part was that I began to believe it too. Living in the shadows, even while totally busy and visible, became my norm.
Back in 1995, I had what some call a power encounter with my Savior, even though I had been a born again Christian since I was eleven. I always knew that I needed to take it all to the Lord in prayer, but during that special night I was shown I had been locking away so many hurtful and crippling feelings. Ever since that time, I have been victorious in chasing off the shadows.
Many people ask me why I still need to chase shadows off at all. My response is very simple…I am human, with real feelings, trials and failures. No matter what comes my way, I know that God is working something in me through those things. Being a Christian does not mean that everything goes along without some challenges. So, now, when the shadows come, I never loose sight of God…He is always the light that I see. There is always a blue sky on the other side of every problem that may arise…that blue sky is a beautiful place where I know to run to and leave the shadows behind!
Photo is by Randy Pillion
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